Fluff Stuffers
by jen1490
Summary: Several random oneshots and other stories which have materialized from my mind surrounding Negi and Asuna. Pure romantic bliss for everyone's inner hopeless romantic!
1. Prologue

**02/2011 - - Prologue / Author's Note  
**

* * *

Hello! And welcome to my collection of totally random stories that pop into my head!

I've been typing way too many ideas and each one is just sitting in my email, doing nothing but annoying me since i won't delete them. So i have created this story to pack every one of those yet unpublished documents into here!

These shall be almost, mainly, exclusively NegixAsuna **romance** fics with a little other random story mushed in. If you aren't a huge NegixAsuna fan then feel free to read but please no complaining. I really like this pair and, well, I will continue being a fan as long as the praise-worthy Mr. Ken Akamatsu decides to carve into stone that Asuna and Negi are indeed related by blood (not a fan of incest).

Until then, my hopes will be high and I will be praying for a favorable outcome. . .

If there is any thing you readers would like to see, such as a certain type of story/plot, etc, then send me a pm or just put it in a review! of course there is no shortage of plots that develop in my mind but it's always nice to get some outsider ideas.

* * *

these stories will be song fics, one shots, stories i felt that i didn't want to make a new 'story' out of and such. . .

the rating will change with each story. some will have some very mature content *blush*

. . .oh, and i don't own "Mahou Sensei Negima" or any of it's characters. . .

ENJOY! :]


	2. Restless Feelings

**note:** this is a POV oneshot. a high-five if you can guess who's POV it is. i was hearing Aerosmith's 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing' so if you know this song, you'll recognize some familiar lines. . .

* * *

**Restless Feelings**

**Rated: T**

* * *

How long has this been going on?

I wake up and I'm next to you in our, I mean, your bed. . . _again._

Whenever this happens, I question whether I _ever _did get over this little habit and if I did, what is making my body unconsciously move into your bed?

When I wake and find myself in this position, I usually return to my own sleeping place to avoid angering you in the mornings but today, for some reason, I decide to stay. My thoughts wonder at a fast pace going from when I first met you to how our relationship has transformed into what it is now. It has been a long while since that time and we've come so far. I smile when the memories of our bickering float into my mind. Somehow it was always for my own good that you have argued for. You've always cared for me. My mind is restless now and I realize then that I can't go back to sleep so I lay with my face inches from yours thinking of how lovely you look as you smile in your dreams.

Something inside me suddenly aches to hold, to feel you close to me. That same something tempts me to kiss your smile, to taste your lips once again. I push that feeling away, startled at the fact that I, a gentleman, would have such a yearning. I shake my head at myself in disapproval. How can I allow myself to think of you in such a way? You, who inspire me to do the impossible, to do so many things which I would have given up on, I want you to always be by my side, to never leave me. It is not proper to think about those things, especially when we share the same bed.

So instead of leaving your side like I know I should, I stay just to watch you sleeping. . .

My eyes grow tired as time slowly drags itself along but I try not to surrender to sleep because, unexpectedly, I don't want miss even a second of you. I see your eyebrows burrow in a confused expression and then you frown. I put my hand gently on your head, smoothing your lovely hair behind your ear. The small smile returns, taking the place of that frown. I wonder what could have upsetted you and what could have comforted you. A part of me hopes that my touch returned that beautiful smile to your face but then I remember all the times when I let you down, when I couldn't be there for you.

I draw my hand away from you and a small fear weasels it's way into my mind:

_Am I allowed to love?  
_

I shake my head again. Why would I ask myself such a question? Of course I am allowed to love! Isn't that a right of everyone? Suddenly, a little thought whispers to me if that was what I was truly asking. Confusion fills me as I think about my question. What _am_ I asking? Those uneasy thoughts melt away when I watch your sleeping smile, it doesn't matter to me because as much as the uncertainty that lives in my heart, there also lives hope. Hope for the day when I will find my life partner and we will all be growing older, happy to be together. Everyone has the right to love and since I already have my permanent pactio partner, you, I wonder if I will ever find a someone to marry. Some of the girls have already found their someone and have started their lives together, but you haven't yet. I let out a small, relieved sigh. Hopefully, we both will find someone that will make us unbelievably happy.

As I wait for that day, I will watch you sleeping. Watch as your body slowly rises and falls with each breath. Watch how your mouth bends into a soft, peaceful smile. . .

A sudden desire flames in my stomach. It shocks me completely because it is a desire for a kiss; a kiss from _you_. . .

One kiss, that is all it asks for, all that it would be content to have for now: _a soft, simple kiss_.

Without thinking, I push myself closer to your sleeping form.

Is this wrong? Is it wrong to kiss someone in their sleep?

I picture you waking up in the middle of my kiss. My palms start to sweat as I think about the two reactions that would come from you if you ever find out that I kissed you. The usual would be where you slap me and call me a pervert. Then there's that _other _reaction. The reaction from you that, as I think about it, my heart speeds up and my throat constructs with eager nerves. I know the probabilities of that happening are very slim but my heart is high with the hope that you would kiss me back.

More shock grabs me for a second as I realize that _I_ am thinking about being kissed by you and the fact that _I_ am thinking about kissing _you_. Something in me pushes all thoughts and restrictions from my mind and gives me the courage to prepare my lips to meet yours. Just as I am about to fulfill my small desire, you stir from your sleep. My heart pounds in my chest with the fear that I have been caught red-handedly as you slowly open your mismatched eyes. They don't grow wide in surprise like they usually do when we wake in the morning. Instead, they stay half-closed, drowsy, heavy with sleep. Then you whisper to me if I am alright.

I say yes.

. . .

But I know that is a lie.

How long has this been going on?

These lies I tell you and the lies I tell myself.

How long has this been going on?

When did I realize that I would rather lose sleep than miss a moment with you?

You still haven't gone back to sleep and now you are the one watching me. Looks like my lie didn't trap you this time. What am I saying? My lies never trap you. I smile and think about what you always tell me: I am as readable as a book to you. My heart skips a beat when I recall those words. How lucky I am that I have a person like you by my side. I don't even have to say anything for you to know something is upsetting me.

You brush my hair back like the way I had done a few moments before and you tell me that if I don't feel like talking now, its okay, in the morning I can say what is troubling me. You give me a drowsy smile and turn around to face the wall.

I can no longer see you sleeping.

This upsets me more than I would have guessed it would. It upsets me so much that a small whimper manages to escape my throat.

I must have had an embarrassed blush the color of tomato sauce because when you turn to me again, you giggle. You tell me to go to sleep and then, to my great surprise, you snuggle up against me.

I can barely keep my calm composure.

My heart is thumping so loudly, that I wouldn't be surprised if you heard it. You put your arms around me in a warm, platonic embrace. If this wasn't so wonderful, my heart would be breaking. I feel a pain unfamiliar to me worm it's way into my body when you push yourself slightly closer to me.

_This must be how all the girls who have loved me feel._

Guilt builds up in my chest as you hold me. This strange feeling of utter helplessness spreads across my body. A knot of pain grows in my stomach that makes me want to weep on my knees. They must have felt this when I rejected them. I should have done more to help all those that loved me to move on from me. But no, I shouldn't blame myself. I did the best I could for them and they agree. Although, I am confused. Why do I relate this feeling to the girls? Why do these thoughts invade me at a moment like this? Are these feelings punishment for allowing so many girls to fall in love with me?

As this confusing pain twists my stomach, I shyly let myself hug you back and I feel your warm breath on my neck. My heart races as my mind swirls with improper thoughts that I quickly scold myself for, yet I allow them to thrive. I feel my body shamefully reacting to my inappropriate thoughts so I push myself away to avoid surprising you.

Then your eyes flutter open and you ask me what's wrong.

I answer saying the first think that pops into my mind: _it's too hot._ You give me a small, understanding smile and tell me to turn around. I hesitate at first but then I comply rather sadly, since I will not be able to watch you sleeping. But when I turn my back to you, you hug me.

My body is ridged while I feel your hands on my chest, right over my thumping heart. I feel the heat radiating off my face because now you will be able to feel the involuntary quick beat of my heart. You whisper in my ear to get a good night's sleep as you push your warm body into my back.

_How will I be able to sleep like this?_ My body is anxious while my mind will not let me rest. I don't understand any of what I am going through. Everything, it all seems so new yet it feels as if I have been feeling like this forever.

Why is my heart beating so fast? What do these strong feelings mean? Why do I only get these feelings around _you_?

My whole being freezes as a single thought enters my mind, providing me with the simple answer to my dilemma:

_I'm in love with you.  
_

* * *

**_END_**


	3. Let Go

**note:** i didn't mean to do this. PostiveCharm416 asked for a continuation of chapter one but this popped out totally unexpected! i planned it to be happy/fluffy then it came out like this! GAH! just treat it as a stand-alone, so please forgive this over imaginative, depressing author! xD

~inspired by _Maná's _song, 'Manda Una Señal'

* * *

**Let Go**

**Rated: K+****

* * *

**

_Vivir, sin ti vivir,_  
_Estarse muriendo sin morir;_  
_Estar, sin ti, estar,_  
_Estarse muriendo sin morir,_  
_Amor, donde estarás,_  
_Manda un mensaje, una señal,_  
_Y no, no pararé,_  
_No viviré sin ti amor, no._

_How could it come to this?_

The one that I just realized I'm in love with is about to say 'I do' to another girl.

I pace my room nervously. Then I stop to look at myself in the full-length mirror. One word I would use to describe how I look at this moment? Handsome. Yes, right now, I am a woman who you can consider to be handsome, not beautiful. Why? Because I'm wearing a black tuxedo fitted to my womanly figure with a silver bow tie and shiny, black shoes.

I honestly can't believe I let you talk me into being your 'best man'. You have Kotaro and even Takamichi, so why would you choose me? To add onto the pain of being so near to you at the one day where you will stop being mine, you make _me_ your best man. _Me._ One who secretly loves you so much you put in such a painful position. And then after I reluctantly agreed with a hurting heart, I let Set-chan talk me into wearing man clothes.

_A black suit and not a white dress._

My stomach twists with pain as I imagine the beautiful, white wedding gown she's going to be wearing then I put myself in her place. I picture how you would look at me as I walk down the aisle to you, my waiting groom. I picture myself saying my vows while staring into your deep, brown eyes. Then I imagine becoming your wife as I kiss you at the alter.

But that's all I can do: _imagine_

Because it's _her_ that you're going to marry, not me.

Tears start falling down my cheeks. I guess being your permanent pactio partner didn't guarantee that you would always be by my side.

A knock at my door startles me. I quickly wipe the tears off my face with my sleeve and I begin to fix my bow tie as I tell whoever knocked to come in. It's my long time friend, Ayaka. She smiles when she sees me in my manly get up. She starts chatting about how good I look and how the wedding is going as planned. She talks about how excited she is and how happy you are. When she says this, all I can picture is how it would have been _our_ wedding _if _I'd have been honest with how I feel about you, _if_ I would have accepted your feelings. But I didn't and now I am left to regret the biggest mistake of my life. The tears are threatening to spill out of my eyes as Ayaka continues to talk. Then she says the one thing that makes me hate myself: She's so glad you were able to get over me. You were so heartbroken after I rejected you.

The tears flow down my face and I make no attempt to cover them up.

Ayaka is shocked. She tries to comfort me. At first she believes they are tears of joy for you then as I continue to sob, she realizes the truth. She hugs me but instead of saying it's going to be alright, she says that I'm too late. I have no choice other than to let you go. I cry into her shoulder as she soothingly pats my back. She tells me to 'man up' and to accept the consequences of my actions. As she begins to exit my room, the last thing she advises me to do is to tell you how I really feel.

With that, she leaves me alone in my room with my breaking heart.

I glance back at my mirror to look at my tear-stained face. I nod to myself with a fiery determination that I didn't know I had. Yes, I will tell you my true feelings for you and I will not expect you to give her up for me. I fix my appearance and I make my way over to your room. I pause before knocking, hesitating with fear and guilt, then I force myself to open your door. I see no one at first because the sun is so bright, it's blinding.

Then I hear your voice calling out my name.

I see you standing near the windows, an image of pure white, like an angel with the sun's golden rays covering you in a warm light.

I'm in black and you're in white.

It feels like I have just swallowed my heart.

_How could I have been so blind?_

You were always with me and I was always with you. Pain returns to strangle my stomach. I took you for granted. You give me a sweet smile which makes my heart ache but it quickly fades as you notice that I am avoiding your gaze. You ask me what's wrong, and jokingly, you ask if you look ugly. I quickly shake my head and I tell you the opposite, you look beautiful. I see you blush a rosy pink and my heart thumps loudly in my chest.

You turn slowly back to the windows as you ask me why I came to you. A part of me has suspicions that you already know what I'm going to say. Ignoring the pain and the fear, the words rush out of my mouth. I don't stop even after I say those three words, giving an explanation as to why I chose to reject you. And at the end, I repeat what I first said: _I'm in love you, Negi_.

You say nothing as you keep staring out the window. I rub the fresh tears away from my face. I didn't realize that I had been crying so much. I prepare my heart for an apology, like the ones you had given to the other girls before me who had told you that they also love you. But instead of an apology, you give me different words, words that I didn't expect.

You turn to me with misty eyes and you tell me that you have always loved me, that you have never stopped loving me even after I rejected you.

My heart swells and I step closer to you. . .

But you back away from me.

You shake your head sadly as you avoid my gaze. I'm too late, you say, you can't be with me anymore. I feel my heart slowly breaking as I ask you why not. You finally lift your sad eyes to mine. Her family is out there, her friends, our friends, she's out there expecting to marry you. You can't just ignore her and her feelings or even your own feelings for her, and runaway with me. It wouldn't be fair to her, to you, to everyone. I'm too late, you tell me, echoing Ayaka's words, _I'm too late_.

I nod slowly as I leave your room. I see you turn back to stare out the windows before the door closes behind me.

When I reach the sanctuary of my own room I slump down against a wall and I weep. I cry so much and so hard. My heart is hurting, it's hurting so much. I didn't know that I was secretly hoping that you would accept my feelings and not marry her. I cried harder when I realized that I knew even before I confessed that you wouldn't accept me. It was pointless. What was done is done. I can't go back in time. I can't erase, undo or redo a moment in my life that I regret so much. I can't make you leave with me tonight.

I can't make your love for me stronger than the love you have for her.

Suddenly the tears stop. I get up and I fix myself, I fix my face, I fix my orange hair, I fix my red eyes. Even with the feelings I have for you, I am still your best man and I will make sure this is a day that you will remember with happiness. So I numb my heart for you.

I leave my room with a cheerful mask on.

I will not ruin this day for you. I will walk down the aisle with the maid of honor on my arm, I will stand by your side as you accept your bride and I will give my toast at the reception as the best man is supposed to. I will do this all with a bright smile on my face. When you ask me if I am alright, I will answer in my usual manner as if nothing is wrong.

I make my way toward the room where your wedding will be held.

It's almost about to start. It's almost time to let you go.

My eyes catch Nodoka with Yue and Natsumi with Makie. They are blushing happily in their beautiful gowns. Four of the girls who confessed their love for you and you rejected each one for _me_. The pain comes back and the tears want to spill out but I keep my mask in one piece. I see that Nodoka and Natsumi are being escorted by very handsome dates. They laugh as the men take them in their arms.

If they have managed to move on maybe I'll be able to move one as well?

I look down at my hands. _No, I won't be able to move on_. This love, the one I feel for you will not be easy to kill. It's the eternal kind of love, the kind that only gets bigger with time. My heart crushes itself inside of me. I feel like shouting my pain into the four winds so that the whole planet can know that I am suffering. I feel like tearing apart my clothes, tearing out my long hair, tearing out my breaking heart from my bleeding chest.

Ayaka comes to my side and squeezes my hand as she tells me that if I don't want to go through this, I don't have to. I tell her that I'm fine, I can, I _have_ to be present at your wedding.

She accepts my reasons with a silent, understanding nod. She heads toward the front of the room where all the bride's maids and groom's men are to tell everyone that the wedding will be starting in a few minutes.

I take the hand of the maid of honor and I position myself at the door which leads to the alter. The image of me in a wedding dress walking towards you flashes in my mind. My mask wants to break but I don't allow it to. The doors open and the music begins, cuing me and my partner down the aisle. I force my gaze to look up at you. You look as handsome as I have imagined. You're smiling like in my daydream but instead of sparkling, joyful brown eyes there is sadness in your gaze. But sadness for what? For her? For you? For me? Because you feel guilt that you have made me your best man? Do you pity me? Yes, I rejected you and now you have moved on. My mask threatens to fracture completely as I walk up the final steps to stand by your side, to watch you give yourself completely to one that's not me.

The ceremony goes by in a quick blur, one minute you are a nervous groom the next you are a proud husband.

The evening fades into the night as all of your guests are enjoying themselves at the reception. I give such an emotional, nostalgic toast at the dinner that it moves many people to cry, even your lovely new wife. Afterward, I dance with several men and even some women. I smile, I laugh, I yell with delight, but it is all a lie. I always have you in the corner of my eye, watching the tender caresses you give her that could have been mine.

I step outside for some 'fresh air', unable to handle the pain of losing you.

I glance up at the starry sky with tears glistening in my eyes.

I guess I have no other choice than to let you go. . .

_Living, living without you,_  
_Dying but not dead;_  
_To be, without you, to be,_  
_Dying but not dead,_  
_Love, where could you be,_  
_Send a message, a sign,_  
_And I won't, won't stop,_  
_I will not live without you love, no._

I love you. _Always_. . .

* * *

_**End**_


	4. The Yearbook

**note: **inspired by 'Stay Beautiful' by _The Last Goodnight_; for all you fluff lovers out there, yeah, you know who you are. . .

* * *

**The Yearbook**

**Rated: K

* * *

**

_Five years and a half. _

That's how long he has been with his students. In all that time, he had come to personally bond with each of his thirty female students. It was all thanks to the dean for allowing him to stay with the girls until their high school graduation after which everyone, even him, would go their separate ways, well, not everyone. Some would go on to college, others to awaiting careers, the rest to anything they fancied, and one would follow him.

His fingers brushed the book he had on his lap. Time had finally reached that day. _Graduation day_. His palms suddenly started to sweat with nervous anticipation. After this, _his_ students weren't going to be _his_ anymore. As he sat in the second to the first row of the audience, seats reserved only for teachers, his thoughts drifted to the near future then to the inevitable changes it would bring.

He watched the valedictorian of their year, his student, Satomi Hakase, at the podium giving her speech. The girl had been one of the few of his students to hardly change at all over time. Sure, she developed her figure and she grown slightly taller, but the girl refused to change her hair style or her hobby of robotic mechanics, not that it was a bad thing; it comforted him when time didn't affect people. He watched the girl conclude her speech with a bow and she walked off the stage.

Then the diplomas were handed out in alphabetical order.

Between every ten to fifteen people was one of his girls. He watched each one with joyful eyes as they graced the stage to receive their prize for surviving until the end of high school. When they said _her_ name, he silently chuckled to himself. She almost didn't make it to graduation. _Another_ school drop-out in his life. That would have been something. If she wouldn't have made it, then her attitude and her strength wouldn't be the only things that she had in common with his father. But she did manage to pass all her classes with, not high scores or even average scores, just slightly above the failing line scores.

He watched the girl, no, the young woman walk the stage with a bounce in her step. She was also one that had changed the least. Sure, she had developed splendid curves and her height had increased, but she was still the same straight-forward, stubborn girl he had meet so long ago. After she got her diploma, the girl did what none of the others did: she stopped in front of the audience, in the middle of the stage, and yelled a noisy hurrah, then she tossed her graduation cap high into the air and caught it magnificently when it finally came down, earning a loud cheer from everyone in the audience. She always had the ability to motivate people. He himself had experienced it first hand when he was at his lowest. He smiled brightly as his hands clapped along with the cheering crowd while Asuna Kagurazaka danced off the stage.

The rest of the ceremony went by in a fast blur. He was lost in his own thoughts of his future as his former students and fellow teachers surrounded him to congratulate him for his success with Class 3-A. Everyone from his class had graduated. Pats on his back, handshakes, hugs, words of compliment, those were all given to the teacher-boy who had taken the reins on the wild class that was 3-A and lead it through an amazing school life. He idly chatted with several teachers, absent mindedly answering questions, until he noticed that everyone was filing out of the graduation area.

_That_ party was starting. The famous Mahora Celebration for Graduating High School Seniors party, both for the boys and the girls, was about to begin. A group of his former students pulled him in the direction of the party which was to be held in a building by the World Tree. He willingly allowed himself to be lead by his excited ex-students. What is it about graduations that make everyone so giddy yet sad at the same time? Negi tightened his grip on the book he held in his hands. The party would the perfect time to get all the customary farewell signatures from everyone. One of his students, Yuuna Akashi, which was pulling him toward the party, noticed the book hidden in the arms of the boy.

"You bought a yearbook, Negi-kun? Are you planning on getting everyone to write their goodbyes in it?"

Negi shyly hugged the book to his chest. "Ah, yes, I wanted to follow traditions."

"Alright, how 'bout we be the first to sign it? Makie?" The pink-haired girl next to her began to search through her bag as Yuuna held out her hand. She finally found a pen and handed it to the brunette. Yuuna read out loud what she was writing in his book then she passed the pen to Makie Sasaki, who in turn blushed at what she was writing, then she passed it to the other girl. It made its way from Makie to Ako Izumi to Akira Okochi and over to the three hyper cheerleaders: Misa Kakizaki, Madoka Kugimiya, Sakurako Shiina. When they were all done, the girls handed Negi's yearbook back to him.

"Don't forget to sign our yearbooks, okay, Negi-kun?" Misa winked as they continued to drag Negi toward the large hall where the party would be held.

Before he even set both his feet inside the building, all his students, even those females that weren't his, hounded him, trying to write their numbers, words of inspiration, goodbyes and any other thing in the cute teacher-boy's yearbook. After a while of being mobbed by the herds of females, he escaped to the balcony of the building's second floor to seek solitude, away from the noisy party on the first floor. Negi opened his yearbook to begin reading what they had all written. What met his sight was a confusing pattern of black and white that hardly resembled any written language. In the end, any available blank spots in his book, even those between photos, were filled to the maximum with tiny words crammed together. Negi stared in disbelief at all the writing that his book had taken in.

He sighed as his eyes began to water from reading what everyone had written.

"Hey, Negi. Trying to understand what all your fangirls wrote?" The voice startled him but when he saw who it was, he immediately relaxed. Asuna was grinning mischievously as she made his way toward him.

"Well, yes, but I can't seem to read for long. All the words somehow mix together and it gives me a headache." Negi shook his head, trying to dispel his migraine. "How rude of me that I can't even read the farewells all my students wrote for me." Asuna glanced at the monochromatic-graffitied book then her mischievous expression changed to a thoughtful one.

"Wait here, Negs."

He watched her back with curiosity as the girl ran inside, quickly disappearing around the corner of the exit. Negi then turned around to gaze at the nostalgic Mahora scenery and to rest his book on the marble railing.

Again, he let out a long sigh.

Everything was going by so fast. His teaching career, his time with the girls. . . _life_ was passing by, and it scared Negi that the future wasn't stopping for anything or anyone. You could either be swept away or frozen in the same spot. For normal people, like him, it's a choice between going with the current or being dragged along. Time wouldn't let you stay frozen to one spot. Soon he would be a year older and out of Mahora. What would happen then?

"Negi." It was Asuna. She had returned from where ever she had run off to with a neon-green sharpie in her right hand. "Don't make a face like that, you little twerp." Negi smiled at the nickname that Asuna had refused to let go. He was anything _but_ a short twerp anymore. "I know you're worried about what's next." Her gaze was lowered to the floor as she spoke, avoiding his eyes like a shy child. Negi wasn't surprised that she could feel his distress. She was so in-tune to his emotions that he wondered if it was _another_ special ability of hers. "I can sense your anxious mood, and I'm nervous about the future, too." She slowly slid the yearbook from under Negi's hands. Her eyes stayed low, away from Negi's face and fluttering under her lashes while she tried to keep her blush under control. "But I think I know what everyone wants to tell you." Asuna flipped through the book while she held up the neon-green marker and pulled the top off with her teeth. The marker squeaked as she wrote large words in the back inner cover of his already filled book.

"A- Asuna-san, I don't believe there is enough room on the last page to write that big." Her busy writing made him worry that she would cover up someone else's words.

She closed his yearbook and handed it back to him when she was finished. "Don't worry about it, Negi. It's a neon color. You can see the marker but it doesn't cover up the stuff behind it."

Negi hugged the book to his chest. Curiosity for what the older girl wrote was starting to take over. "Can I read what you wrote?"

Asuna shrugged dismissively as her face turned to the side in a careless manner. "Sure, it's nothing special. It's just what everyone wants for you."

It took longer than Asuna had expected for Negi to read the simple lines that she had written. Seconds passed, then minutes, and Asuna was starting to worry that she wrote something that had upset him. She watched from the corner of her eyes how his own lowered brown eyes moved as he kept rereading her words over and over again. "Negi?" He finally looked up from his book. In his eyes there were signs of tears that wanted to come out. It startled Asuna. "N- Negi? What's wrong?"

He sniffed as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "N- Nothing is wrong, Asuna-san. It- It's just. . . _thank you_."

The girl pulled him into a tight hug, wrapping her arms around his torso and standing on tiptoes to whisper in his ear. "You're welcome, kid." Negi returned her embrace, hugging her waist as he buried his face into her left shoulder. They stayed in that position for a few moments before Asuna pulled away.

"Come on, Negi." She grinned with a light blush as her hand grabbed his, her fingers intertwining with his. "Let's go back to the party. It'll be awhile before we have another bash like this."

Negi nodded, blushing a deep red when he felt Asuna's hand in his. "O- Okay." They walked out the exit to the lively party downstairs.

Together._  


* * *

_

I bet you want to know what Asuna wrote, right? Well, here it is:

In large letters that she wrote across the page:

_Don't stop, Don't change, Stay beautiful_

Then underneath that, she wrote in smaller letters:

_Get up, Get out_, _Stay wonderful_  
_All this time is waiting for you._  
_Don't worry about the future, Negi, because I'll be here with you.  
And we'll both handle it, together.

* * *

_

_**END**_

_Okay some final words:_

i've got four stories rearing to go, now which one would _you_ like to see? list them in order from the one you'd like to see first to last:

1 Summerboy: mature content, first attempt at a song-fic inspired by Lady GaGa, NegixAsuna beach romance?

2 Ordinary Day: a slight song-fic story surrounding Ako, inspired by Vanessa Carlton

3 The Deal: mature content, NegixAsuna married oneshot

4 Nicholas Bell: just a story about an OC i made for someone

if no one says anything, i'll go with what i'm most comfortable with. . .


	5. The Deal

**note:** gosh, i'm embarrassed and ashamed, but as promised to magicafan1989 (the one who reviewed), here it is: my first explicit mature story. sorry, but it will not be a complete 'lemon' as people here call it. why? because i'm too embarrassed to go all the way. *blush* alright, lets see how well i did with the whole plot thing. . . this one is AU

* * *

**The Deal**

**Rated: M**

* * *

_Long, hard and tiresome._

That is how twenty-five year old Negi Springfield would describe his work day.

So when he walked into his nice, dark apartment the only thing he wanted to do was crash down on his soft bed and sleep until the next morning. Instead he got something he didn't quite expect.

Negi opened the door of his home and let out a loud sigh. His boss had made him give the company's super important presentation for the meeting with their business partners. _Again_. That man was going to owe him big time. Not only was it incredibly stressful but Negi had to deal with questioners whose sole purpose was to outwit him. Of course, they hadn't been able to stump the unstumpable Negi Springfield and he had gained the trust of five of the most powerful corporations in Great Britain. His boss _will_ definitely owe him much more than one favor.

Once again, Negi sighed._ But it's all over now, so it is time to relax._ Negi allowed his tense shoulders droop as he dropped his keys in the key basket that was so conveniently on a table near the door. He smiled as he remembered how the little basket made its way here. It was his wife's ingenious idea to put it near the door. She had always complained about how she would lose her keys, so she thought up of this. It really wasn't such a bad idea. It had also been his beautiful wife's idea to make the powerpoint of his presentation blue instead of green and structure it the way it was done. She gave him her unbiased, 'professional' opinion about his work (told him it was crap), and he had decided to run with her suggestions. Apparently one of the CEOs had found the powerpoint charming and helpful, he had even made a point of telling Negi so. He would have to thank his wife later when she returned from her job.

He looked at the bright digital clock glowing in the darkness. _Five o'clock._ She wouldn't be home until seven-thirty. He disliked the days when his wife had her late kick-boxing class to teach. It just meant he would have to wait that much more time to see her, but then, it was always pleasant seeing her after a long, tiring day. He stared at the clock with amusement. It was also his wife's decision to buy a digital clock instead of an ordinary hand clock because it was difficult for her to tell time on a normal clock._ One small thing after another._ His smile grew wider. It's like everywhere he turned he saw something that reminded him of her.

A noise coming from the living room startled him out of his thoughts. Negi's hand quickly brushed against the wall, feeling through the darkness for the light switch that he knew was there. His hand ran over the surface of his home's cold plaster walls and then suddenly he felt something warm and soft like a person's arm. He automatically pulled back in surprise.

"What's the matter, _Mr. Springfield_? Shocked?"

In the darkness, Negi smiled as his heart began to calm down, recognizing the seductive voice of a woman. "You're not supposed to be home so early." He heard light foot steps coming toward him. When the foot steps stopped, he felt a cold stick rubbing his neck, forcing him to lift his chin.

"Oh? Did you not what me to be here?"

"Well, I didn't say that." He moved closer to her, snaking his arms around the woman's waist and bring her body into his. When he felt the stiff fabric of her clothes, his sharp brain put two and two together so much faster than he would have three years ago: she wanted _that_ from him. "What are you wearing?" The woman pressed herself against him as she stretched her neck to whisper into his ear.

"How about you turn on the light to see?" Negi felt her fingertips run down his jaw to his collarbone, lingering at his exposed chest skin. "You remember what day is today, right? Or did you forget that it's the day after our little agreement expired."

Although her touch excited him, he released a tired sigh. "I'm not in the mood, Asuna."

"What!"

His arms fell to his sides when the woman left him standing alone in the dark. Suddenly the hallway was flooded with light. Negi blinked several times before his eyes adjusted to the new lighting. In front of him stood a curvaceous woman with long, orange hair and mismatched eyes. She was wearing a dark red corset with black fluff lining its top and its bottom. Black, see-through stockings adorned her legs and were connected to the corset by black garters. In her left hand she held a black, shiny whip, which she angrily slapped in her right palm as Negi allowed his eyes to run over her body.

"We had a deal, _Springfield_. And I came home early because that deal was completed." Asuna looked down as she spoke through her teeth, slowly and quietly. "We haven't made love in a week. One _incredibly long_ and _grueling_ week. You have no idea how much I _want_, how much I _need_ you. I've been dying here, Negi." Her eyes flashed up to his blushing face, staring at him with a hungry flame of desire. "Don't make me rape you."

"Ah- hang on a second." Negi started to back up as Asuna moved toward him like a lioness hunting a gazelle. "I- it's just that today has been very rough and I- I'm worn out." She cracked the whip in her palm, making Negi flinch.

"You promised me, Springfield! You promised me that if I left you alone for a week then I could have you whenever I wanted!"

He blushed as he remembered the agreement that he had done with his wife just so that she would stop jumping on him whenever any opportunity presented itself. After an 'incident' at the movies, he was slightly scared to go to any dark public places with her. The other reason for such a deal was that he had the huge presentation to complete that week. Negi knew that if he didn't somehow keep Asuna away, she wouldn't allow him a decent night's rest, something which he desperately needed for work.

"Wah! Wa- wait!" Negi bumped clumsily into a table along the hallway, halting his escape from his lustful wife. "Let me get prepared first, at least!" This made the woman pause as few steps away from her prey.

"Prepared?" Negi quickly nodded. "You're a man; you have no need to get prepared." Asuna then continued moving the last few feet toward him, cornering him against a wall and holding the whip menacingly in her hand. "I on the other hand, have been preparing the whole day." She blushed as she pushed down on Negi's shoulders, forcing him to sit on the floor as she kneeled in front of him over his legs.

"'P- preparing the whole day'? Wha- what do you mean by that?" Negi's face burned with red heat as Asuna's blush became evidence of her previously inconspicuous arousal. She dropped the whip and her left hand traveled down past her stomach to her black mesh-and-lace panty and slowly pushing the fabric to the side, she exposed herself over Negi's legs. He tried really hard to keep his eyes from watching her movements, straining his gaze to remain on Asuna's flushed face but her stare was just as arousing as watching what her hand was doing to herself. She moved her face closer to his with her lips lightly brushing against his. The heat radiating from her body was making him crazy with anticipation.

She whispered her hot breath into his opened mouth. "How about I show you what I mean?"

Before Negi's male mind could register his mate's seductive words, she took his hand and pulled it between her legs, near her slightly exposed womanhood.

"Ah, Asuna, wait for just a few minutes more. That's all I'm asking for, love." Negi gently brushed his free hand across her blushing cheek, just barely containing himself from taking her. He nearly lost it when he felt her wetness as she directed his hand to do what she wanted.

"Nooo." Asuna whined like a small child as she moved his fingers deeper into herself. "I- I can't wait any longer. I- I've had it in- inside me the whole d- day."

"What-?" Negi's brown eyes widened as his fingers felt something hard vibrating inside of her body. He quickly pulled it out of her with his index finger and thumb. She gasped softly when the object left her. "What?" He held the slimy object in the air as he studied it. He gaped at his wife after he realized what it was. "Asuna! You had this thing inside you the whole day? How did you-! What if you-!" She smiled weakly at him.

"It- it has been a _long_ week, Neg. It- it ended up being too l- long for me so I went out and b- bought some 'toys'."

Negi dropped the wet object in embarrassment. He didn't know whether to be disgusted or turned on by his wife's perverted actions. He suddenly recalled all the moments he had found Asuna locked in the bathroom for hours. His body stiffened as he came to the realization of what she was doing in there, yet he couldn't help but ask. "W- was that what y- you were do- doing in- in the ba- bathroom all tho- those t- times?" She nodded.

"S- since today is the last day of our bargain, I- I thought I'd get ready before hand."

"But the _whole_ day?"

"I- I may have over done it." She wrapped her arms around Negi's neck and sat herself down on his lap with her legs tightly around his waist. He resisted gasping as he felt her warm weight pressuring the swelling in his pants. "The important thing is that you're here now."

Her lips began to kiss his jaw line and slowly move downwards. A small moan hummed out of his throat as she kissed his neck. When she slid her hands over his work suit and closer to his pants' buckle, he used all the self-control he had left to gently push her away. The woman let out a low, threatening growl.

"Why are you resisting so much? Do you _want_ me to rape you?"

A flustered smile appeared on his mouth. "N- no, it's just that I feel really dirty, and well, I want to clean myself before we, you know, 'spend time together'. I haven't bathed in two days because of work." He blushed as he recalled how she liked to overpower him and pleasure him with her mouth. He just had to marry a woman who was wild in bed. _The things she would do to him_. At the beginning of their marriage, sex was normal, nothing too crazy. Then Asuna started becoming bold, so bold that it _was_ nearly rape. Not that he minded, although, it did sometimes embarrass him.

"I hope you do know you won't be taking that shower alone." She stared into his brown eyes and watched his expression change as she moved her hips on his lap. Then her eager fingers tore at his shirt's buttons. "And don't make any plans on sleeping tonight either." The sound of buttons popping off his shirt managed to snap Negi out of his aroused daze.

"Ah! Asuna! These are my work clothes!" She ignored his pleas for her to be careful as she pulled off his jacket and shirt from his body, leaving him with only his sleeveless undershirt on. Afterward, her hands pulled off his belt and tugged at his pants, successfully stripping him down to his underwear. Negi shivered in the cool air of their home either from the chill of the floor or the excitement. He saw her hands disappear behind her back as she worked to remove her corset.

"It's like it can't come off fast enough." Asuna laughed before she suddenly stopped as the corset began sliding off her busty figure and she grinned at her husband. "This feels a bit nostalgic, huh?"

"W- well, it does to some extent, except now I have a desperate woman threatening to rape me if I don't succumb to her needs."

Asuna returned to his lap and planted a soft kiss on his lips. "You say it like it's a bad thing." She moved in to give him another kiss, when Negi stopped her.

"Wait. I want to thank you, Asuna. For everything: the powerpoint, keeping your end of the deal and leaving me alone for a week; all the little things you do, I really appreciate it. . ." The look of utter disbelief and intense annoyance on her face made Negi trail off his sentence.

"How in the hell are you able to keep resisting me?" Asuna violently shook Negi's shoulders. "I swear, you aren't a normal man! I'm a hot, matured woman wearing slutty lingerie rearing to have sex for Pete's sake! I even told you I was masturbating the whole day! What the hell's stopping you from pounding me?"

Negi was shocked at her sudden outburst but, unfortunately or fortunately, he wasn't able to reply to that because, at that moment, Asuna pulled him onto his feet and dragged him into the bathroom. That door would remain unopened for another hour and a half, after which she would drag him to their bedroom where they would continue their business for the rest of the night. It's safe to say that both of them didn't fall asleep until the early hours of the next morning and certainly neither of them went to work the next day. Whoever had the bad luck of being their next-door-neighbors, also had the unfortunate privilege of hearing the wild ruckus through the heavy walls.

They weren't able to catch any sleep either.

* * *

**_END_**


	6. Complex History

**note:** GAH! i know 'summerboy' was to be next but i'm not satisfied with it yet, so instead i present this oneshot i whipped up two nights ago. it's got an unconventional plot line involving flashbacks of a child Negi and a child Asuna -it's nothing _horrible_, this is a love story after all. i was inspired when i saw on the news that many children today are exposed to inappropriate material these days. gosh, i hope no one is weirded out by these ideas that just pop into my head without my consent. . . this one is AU

* * *

**Complex History**

**Rated: M**

* * *

"Asuna!" A loud, male voice boomed from the first floor of a home.

A girl stuck her head out of the second floor bathroom to shout her reply. "Yeah, Dad? I'm still in the shower!"

"Be more discreet! Negi's here!"

_Oh crap! _The girl quickly jumped back into her misty shower, blushing from both the heat and what just happened. _That was shitting embarrassing! _She ran a wet hand through her long, wet hair as her thoughts drifted to the visitor in her home_. Negi is here. He's here. He's here. What am I going to do?  
_

Downstairs, a seventeen-year-old Negi Springfield and Takamichi Takahata were sitting across from each other on the couches of the living room in an uncomfortable silence. Once in a while, Takamichi would glare at Negi, whose blush continued to darken with every glance from the older man.

"So Negi, I hope you don't mind waiting for my daughter to come down?" Takamichi asked in the most casual manner he could muster.

The flustered red-haired boy quickly shook his head. "No, Mr. Takahata. I will wait."

Takamichi eyed Negi suspiciously. "You do know I will not allow you two to be alone behind a closed door, right?"

This made the young seventeen-year-old respond with a horrible stutter. "Th- that's a- alright, M- Mr. Ta- Takahata."

Apparently, Takamichi still didn't trust a certain young man alone with his daughter, but his reasons were not unfounded.

Negi nervously fidgeted in his seat as all the memories rushed his mind, like someone had opened the flood gates of his mind. It had been a long time before Takamichi had allowed him to see his daughter once again. His daughter, Asuna, who happened to be his oldest childhood friend and also the main reason as to why Takamichi separated them. It all started when they met at the tender age of six in kindergarten. He was a shy outcast who had no friends, was lightly bullied by the other boys and some girls, and hardly spoke. Then Asuna came along and became his unofficial guardian. She stuck to him like bubble gum would stick to hair. Once the prettiest girl in class made friends with Negi, the bullies left him alone but even with her company, he still didn't have any more friends other than the fiery girl.

Negi snapped out of his thoughts when Takamichi coughed. The boy glanced shyly from under his lashes at the older man as Takamichi stared at him. It was a habit of his that Asuna once called 'a fangirl's death'. Of course, Negi didn't see what was so good about it.

Missing the light blush on the older man's cheeks, Negi returned to his uncontrolled memories. This memory was what changed his and Asuna's innocent childhood relationship. He was certain that Asuna had no idea that he even witnessed it.

_They were nine years old in grade school and Negi was walking around the playground alone because Asuna was with the girls, who still believed that boys had 'cooties' so they wouldn't allow Negi anywhere near them. His slow walk had taken him to the area where the bathrooms were. This area also happened to be the girls' favorite play place. He heard the voices before he saw the girls, then, he quickly hid himself behind the big trees._

_"Hey, look what I found in my brothers' room." He recognized Haruna Saotome's high pitched voice._

_"Is it another one of those 'adult' books?" This voice belonged to the pink-haired Makie Sasaki._

_"Why else would I bring it here, Pinkie?" Haruna responded._

_"I- I'm not sure I- I like reading that s- stuff." The shy, almost as shy as himself, Nodoka Miyazaki said._

_"My dad sometimes watches weird movies with naked girls but he doesn't know I see him." He could almost hear the grin in Yuuna Akashi's voice when she said this._

_"Oh! Bring it to my house next time so we can watch it!" Haruna squealed with delight.  
_

_"What's all this crap you guys are talkn' about? What 'adult books'? Naked girls? Why would a girl want to be naked for?" This strong voice made little Negi's heart quicken. Asuna._

_"Hey, hey, Bells. Look at this." The hint of mischievousness in Haruna's voice sent a chill down his spine._

_After a long silence, broken occasionally by low giggling, Asuna spoke up again. "Why is that girl eating that boy's weewee?" Asuna's question caused more giggling and the boy blushed as he heard the girl stomp her foot. "Hey! What's so funny?"_

_"Oi, Bells, you're the only one who's friends with a boy! Maybe you can try what these pictures show with him?" Yuuna's voice asked his friend._

_"Why would I want to eat him?"_

_Negi heard the rustling of pages being turned as Haruna spoke.__"Okay, how about you do this?"  
_

_After another long silence, Negi finally heard Asuna speak."What are they doing?"  
_

_"Here, take the book but make sure no adults see it. My parents hit my brothers when they found them with this stuff. Then tomorrow tell us what happened with Negi, eheh?" Haruna asked.  
_

_"I don't know."_

_"Come on, Asuna!" He heard both Makie's and Yuuna's voices begging his friend._

_"O- okay."_

That memory ended when she agreed and Negi didn't remember what happened afterward, how he left or how the girls were chased away by the janitor. When his memory starts up again, it's still the same day and Asuna had just called to invite him over. Back then, Negi had no idea of what the girls were talking about so when Asuna invited him for a sleepover like she normally did, his innocent mind thought nothing of it.

_"You take good care of Asuna, 'kay, Negi?" Negi's only other relative, Nekane Springfield, gave him a light kiss on his forehead before she sent him across the street to the Takahatas' house._

_"Yes, sis." She watched her little cousin skip over the road and enter the house of his best friend._

_"Asuna! Negi is here!" A few seconds after Takamichi called for his daughter, the girl appeared at the top of the stairs in her blue sleeping gown._

_"Onion! Hurry! I got somethn' to show you!" The girl mention for Negi to come up to her room. The young boy glanced up to Takamichi for permission. The older man smiled down at him then nodded. "You kids have a blast, okay?" He ruffled Negi's hair and gave him a soft nudge toward the stairs. "I'll be down here if you need anything."_

_The boy quietly went up the stairs and opened Asuna's door. There was no one in her room, which Negi found odd since he saw the girl disappear into here. "A- Asuna?"_

_"Onion?" He looked in the direction of where the voice came from. "I'm in here, Onion!" Negi saw what looked like a brown tent set up in the girl's closet. Asuna stuck out her head from the tent's flaps. "Onion! Come in!" Negi laid down his small duffel bag and walked over to the tent._

_"What's this, Asuna?" Negi peeped inside the small tent. It wasn't high enough to stand in but it was big enough to house two small bodies in a sitting position. A yellow lamp in Asuna's hand was the only source of light in her little hideaway.  
_

_"This is where we'll do what the book says! Haruna lent it to me today at recess. She said I have to be really careful because the adults get really mad if they find out what we're doing."_

_"What?"_

_"Here look." Asuna pulled out the magazine to lay it out in front of the boy. Negi's eyes widened as his young brain attempted to register the erotic images on the page. "Haruna wants us to do this one." She pointed to a woman touching a man._

_"A- Asuna. Ma- maybe Sis- sister will be mad if she finds out we- we're doing thi- this."_

_"It's okay, Onion. Daddy and Auntie won't find out." Asuna pouted cutely. "Come on! Haruna asked me nicely. She heard from her brothers that it doesn't hurt. She says they say it feels good."_

_"It does?"_

_"Yep. She heard them say it feels like. . ." the girl threw her arms up in the air, "like you're exploding!"_

_"What?" Negi squeaked. "I'm gonna explode? How can that feel good?"_

_"How about we try it and if it hurts, we stop and play a game of hide n seeks!"_

_The boy nodded slowly. "O- okay."_

Seventeen-year-old Negi's face was flushed with an intense red color as he remembered clearly what happened next. They were so young; they shouldn't have done what they did. But their playing didn't stop with that night. Thanks to Haruna's help and encouragement, it went on until they were eleven. By then that girl had long forgotten her small project and decided to start investing her energies into 'adult' art. Fortunately, for both Asuna and himself, they never went all the way, although, the last time they 'played', the children almost did. That is one memory that burns brightly in Negi's mind. He was beginning to become aware of himself and of the young girl that was constantly toying with him. As time went on from when he was nine to eleven, his confused feelings about what they were doing changed and evolved. It went from unknown embarrassed pleasure to need. He ran home to finish his homework early so that every afternoon he could spend it together with Asuna, exploring themselves. He never understood how it had taken so long for their families to discover what they were doing. He believed anyone with enough sense would have become suspicious of how much time they were spending together. Negi unconsciously shuddered. The thought of two children being sexually active made disgust swirl in his gut. They shouldn't have done what they did.

As much as he wanted, Negi couldn't force down the memory of their last day together.

_He lay with his back on the carpet after a young Asuna had just finished 'eating him', as she used to put it then. The girl was lying naked on top of him, panting with an intense blush streaking her cheeks._

_"Yuuna showed me, Makie and Haruna a movie her dad watches." She announced proudly.  
_

_"H- huh?" Negi managed to slip that single word from his breathless lips. The girl looked down at him with an expression he didn't understand._

_"In the movie, the girl puts the guy's thing in between her legs, right here." The girl sat up on Negi to show him where she mentioned. The heat poured in Negi's young body as he watched Asuna opening herself. "See, there's a hole down there."_

_The boy quickly redirected his gaze elsewhere. "Ah. Wa- wait! Remember what they said in school on Friday?"_

_"Oh, the sex class?" He squeaked when she said that word. That past Friday, they both found out that they had been doing 'sex things' all this time. It nearly made Negi have a heart attack._

_"I- I don't want to do this any- anymore."_

_"I'll let you be on top." Negi froze. Asuna never let him be on top of her. He was always the one on the floor._

_"B- b- but. . ."_

_"Don't you want to be on top?" Negi's head nodded without his consent. The girl plopped on her back with her legs spread open. "Alright, I'm ready." Negi gulped. He wasn't expecting to be doing this at such a young age. He positioned himself over her as his eyes avoided her gaze. Then he lowered himself completely on her body. He heard her let out a small 'oof'. "Oi, Negi, you're really heavy."_

_"I- I'm s- sorry!"_

_"Nah, it's fine." After a moment of silence and no movement, Asuna spoke up. "Now what?"_

_"I- I'm not sure."_

_"Asuna!" Takamichi's voice bellowed from downstairs._

_"Yeah Dad?" Asuna answered back with a yell as loud. "Pizza's here!"_

_"Okay be down in a minute!" She glanced up at the boy on top of her. "I guess we'll have to try some other day, Negi."_

_"O- okay."_

_Suddenly, her bedroom door was opened._

_"Asuna, I thought you'd want me to bring your. . ." Takamichi's voice died down when he saw no one there. The children were in the tent hidden in Asuna's closet, frozen with the fear that he would find out what they were doing. "Asuna? Negi? Strange, I thought the kids were in the room." They heard his footsteps receding then they stopped. "Is that a tent? Why would Asuna. . ." They stared at each other with a single thought traveling between them: Asuna had forgotten to close her closet door. Both knew what was going to happen as they heard Takamichi's steps draw nearer._

_"Negi." With a frightened look in her eyes, Asuna whispered to the boy on top of her. She almost cried. "Negi."_

_"Asuna." He replied in a raspy whisper._

_"I love you, Negi."_

_With that, she shut her eyes tightly and hugged the naked boy closer to her as the tent's flaps were pulled apart. _

What happened next would haunt Negi in his nightmares for the years to come. Negi's coping mechanism blurred the events of that night, the yells, the tears, the fighting. Everything came out then: how long they had been doing such things, who told them, how far had they gone. Takamichi turned into a devil and probably would have killed Negi if Asuna hadn't stopped him. Nekane was called over and Negi had to bare her cousin spilling countless tears over the news. They interrogated Asuna when she told them it was her idea, clearing Negi's name, but only managed to link Haruna as the culprit. The girl refused to name anyone else, not that the adults had any clue there was anyone else.

After all the anger subsided, both Nekane and Takamichi refused to allow Negi and Asuna to see each other again. They told Negi's teachers to keep him from the girl and the teachers did just that. Negi fell into a depression with all this, he had lost his only close friend and he had a strange, empty feeling in his chest whenever anyone spoke about Asuna but the hardest hit was when Takamichi decided to send Asuna to an all-girls boarding school with Haruna. The young boy tried his best to see her one last time to say goodbye, he managed to catch a glimpse of her when the curtains of her room were pulled aside one night, but he never saw her after that.

Six years have passed since then, and Negi had slowly recovered from his depression. He had been able to make a few friends in high school, friends that reminded him so much of that girl. He noticed how Nekane glanced at him with worry in her eyes when he spoke of his guy friends, especially when he talked about the ones that were dating. Negi had never mentioned to Nekane any girl he was interested in. To Nekane, it must have been obvious that Negi hadn't forgotten about Asuna, even after all those years and only hearing about her from a third-party source, he still held feelings for the girl. Perhaps that was the reason why his cousin begged Takamichi to let him speak to his daughter again.

Negi had found out what Nekane had done when he came home from school that day. She gave him the news that Takamichi decided to bring Asuna back for senior year. Haruna would also be coming back, but Negi didn't hear that part. What went through his mind like a broken recording was that Asuna was coming back. Asuna was coming back and he would be able to talk to her again.

That is where Negi is now: waiting for her to come down from her old room.

His nerves amplified as his thoughts raced with all these past memories. How will she see him? Will those last words she spoke to him that night still be true? Negi ran a nervous hand through his red locks. _Will she like how I look now? Is she still the same, old Asuna?_

"Dad?" Negi's head whipped up toward the doorway at the sound of a female voice. He caught a shy blue eye peeking from around the corner. "Negi?" His heart thumped in his chest. He couldn't reply and the girl still wouldn't step out from behind the cover of the wall.

"Asuna, dear! Come out and say hi to your old. . . _friend_." Takamichi harshly growled that last word but Negi didn't care. He was staring at the figure hiding in the shadows of the doorway.

He saw her shake her head in reply. "It- it's kinda embarrassing."

"Asuna." Negi stood up and made his way toward her. The girl drew back deeper into the shadow.

"Wa- wait!"

"Why have you gotten so shy?" Negi folded his arms behind himself to hide the fact that he was quaking with nervousness.

"I- I'm not shy!" The girl stepped out into the light and grabbed Negi's shirt. "I haven't talked to you in like for forever, okay! You can't just expect to go back like nothing after all that time!" Asuna's grip went limp when she realized she had left her protection.

"Asuna, you've changed so much." Ignoring the girl's outburst, Negi's twinkling eyes traveled up and down Asuna, studying her matured body. "You've gotten taller and your hair is longer!" His hand smoothed through her orange hair. "You still look so beautiful."

A deep red blush spread across Asuna's cheeks, then she slapped his hand away. "What makes you think you can touch me?"

"I agree." Like a silent demon, Takamichi appeared behind Asuna. "That was a bold move, Springfield. Don't force me to kick you out. I don't want to upset Nekane."

"Ah! I- I'm sorry!" Negi quickly returned to his old self at the mention of his cousin; his polite manner made Asuna smile softly. "Should we sit and chat about what happened during our time away?" Negi quickly sat back down on the couch.

"Okay, I'm fine with that." With a more confident air around herself, Asuna plopped down very close to Negi. "So, you want to start or should I?" Her fingers grazed his leg ever so slightly, causing Negi to loudly swallow.

"Hey! Asuna! Stop that! You know what kind of history you two have! It wouldn't be very hard to fall back into that, especially now, with both of you young adults." Suddenly, Takamichi sighed. "Dang, I got to let go." Then in a lower tone he whispered to himself. "Remember what Nekane said." Negi and Asuna both stared at him curiously. His cousin must have had a long,_ long_ conversation with the man. "It- it's fine as long as you two are. . . safe. Although, I would prefer it if you two waited."

Negi's eyes widened with surprise and embarrassment as he came to understand the older man's words, then, Negi felt a tap on his shoulder. Asuna was grinning at him."You hear that, Negi? My dad says it's okay. So you want to be my boyfriend?"

"Wha- what?" Even Negi heard the squeak in his voice.

"Is that a yes?" The girl smiled at Negi with hopeful eyes. All Negi could do was nod after which the happy girl pulled him to his feet and ran out the door with him. "Come! We've got so much to catch up about!" Negi heard Takamichi yelling at Asuna from the inside of their house but the girl ignored her father and ran toward an old oak tree they used to play around when they were still those innocent children who knew nothing of the 'adult' world. She stopped under the shade of the giant tree and pulled Negi in for a tight bear hug. "I missed you, Onion, I missed you alot."

"Me- me too. " He returned her embrace.

Right then and there, as the past melted away, Negi was the happiest he had been in a very long time.

* * *

_**END**_


	7. Summerboy

**note:** F it! i'm not satisfied with this but who cares! my first and last song fic. these are so hard to do and i'm not willing to go through the work of putting the lyrics in a good place again. i don't know if i did it right, hopefully i did a _decent_ job. as you will notice, this simple oneshot was inspired by Lady GaGa's 'SummerBoy' and it has some *cough* adult *cough* content. . . this one is AU

* * *

**SummerBoy**

**Rated: M**

* * *

'_It's a hot week and it'll just keep gettin' hotter! Be sure to stay inside if you can't handle the heat and drink plenty of fluids. But right now it's the perfect time to head down to the beach!_' A radio was being loudly played from a beach home near the busy ocean coast as people relaxed in the warm sun. '_Now here's a special request from a certain young lady! Here's to you guys! Summerboy by Lady GaGa!_'

_1-2-3_

_ Nowhere, yah were goin' no where fast_  
_ Maybe this time I'll be yours and you'll be mine_

A young, red-haired man dragged a red and white cooler across the sand. The young man was wearing blue swimming trunks and a white cotton shirt on his slender yet muscular figure. His soft brown eyes squinted through the bright haze of the sun, looking for something or someone.

"Oy! Negi!"

He turned to the caller. It was a long time friend of his, Kotaro Inugami. His friend had invited him down to the beach today for a party. Right now, Kotaro was wearing only black swimming trunks and no shirt, revealing his tanned, well-built torso. The raven-haired youth made his way over to him, occasionally glancing at the women passing by in their bikinis.

"Kotaro, finally!" The redhead pulled on the cooler's handle, struggling to move it forward. "I have to find somewhere to put this. Where is the party?"

"You're kinda late, Negi. But no matter, it's over here." Kotaro mentioned for Negi to follow him. "There's tons of gorgeous babes. I'm sure even you might end up gettin' lucky tonight." He winked at his friend who responded with a deep blush.

"Kotaro! I don't want to get lucky! I told you I don't have time for those kinds of relationships."

"Who said anythin' about a relationship? I was just talkin' bout sex." Kotaro grinned when he saw Negi wince at the mention of that three letter word. "And you can't tell me you hadn't had time for at least five minutes of sex in all your twenty years of life?"

"Kotaro~! Come on, Kotaro~!" A group of bikini wearing girls ran toward the shirtless young man.

"Hey, ladies!" Negi watched as his friend transform from the goofy tough guy to the 'big ballin' player' as his other friend, Chamo, puts it. "This is my friend Negi Springfield. Make sure he feels at home, nh, ladies?"

"Hi! My name's Yuuna. How about we hang out, cutie?" A brunette girl with a side ponytail winked at Negi, making him blush redder. "Oh! How cute your friend is, Kotaro~!" She turned to look at Kotaro who was already walking away with two girls in each arm. "Kotaro! Wait up!" She ran after him, leaving Negi behind alone. _Something tells me that this will be a boring party for someone like me. . ._

"Hey."

Negi turned around and saw that a woman had addressed him. She was a beautiful girl with long orange hair in twin pigtails tied up by golden bells. She was wearing a white two piece bikini with a red, heavy-looking beach bag under her right shoulder.

"Yes? May I help you?" _Her eyes are different color?_ Negi unconsciously stared into the blue and green eyes._ Are they contacts or are they natural?_

The girl stared right back at him. "You Kotaro's friend?"

"Ah, yes. yes I am." Negi was the first to break eye contact, unable to handle the girls unwavering gaze.

"Huh." She looked past Negi. "How come he left you?"

"What?" Negi spun around to find that Kotaro had indeed left him stranded. "Oh no! I have no idea where the party is! What am I gonna do now? I left my cell in the house!"

The girl laughed. "Relax, kid. Luckily, I happen to be Kotaro's friend, too and I also know where the party is gonna be at."

She went to grab the handle of Negi's cooler. "Ah! That won't be necessary, Miss! I can do that!" He was silenced by a sharp look the girl gave him.

"It will take us longer it I let you handle this." She pulled at the cooler, moving it as if it weighed nothing. "Come on, we're already late."

They walked along the sand in an uncomfortable silence for a while until Negi had the urge to speak. "So, how do you know Kotaro?" He glanced curiously at the girl. "He never mentioned any girlfriends."

She chuckled. "Yeah, it might be because I'm the only one who hasn't slept with him. I guess when he saw I wouldn't put out, he stopped trying to get in my pants and I became his 'friend'." She flashed a smile to Negi, then stopped when she saw his red face. "Hey, you okay? You look awfully red. Is the heat getting to you?"

"Ah, n- no I'm fine." The girl pulled him down to sit on the cooler then place a warm hand on his forehead. "Wait, I said I was fine."

"You're really hot and I don't just mean physically attractive." She winked at Negi and grinned as he became redder. "Oh, so that's it? Someone is a shy boy, hn?"

"N- no, I just-" The girl grabbed his hand and the cooler, dragging them both across the sand. _She's really strong!_

"Hurry up! The party is this way." She turned to look at the flustered Negi. "I'm sure you'll have fun."

* * *

Even after the sun had settled under the ocean's horizon, the party was still alive with no end in sight. Someone had started a large bonfire in the middle of the crowd and loud music filled the air while people danced in the sand. Negi was idly sitting alone on a log by the fire, watching the yellow and red flames bounce in the ocean's night breeze. A long, bored sigh escaped his mouth as he rested his elbows on his knees.

"Hey, Negi!" Kotaro waved a hand at the redhead. "Where'd you go, we lost you! Yuuna's been looking all over for you, buddy!" He slapped Negi's back as he sat down next to him.

"Yes, I'm sure she has." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice as Negi put his chin in his palm. For three hours he had been sitting alone at the party, brushing off multiple advances of intoxicated women. The girl who helped him had mysteriously disappeared. He was able to spot her a few times talking and dancing with other girls but she was always gone by the time Negi made his way over to her. The fact that she was playing 'hard to get' slightly annoyed and intrigued him.

"Not having much fun, Negi? I know I shouldn't have asked Yunna to take care of you. That girl has been crushing on me since Makie's party. You remember Makie, right?"

Negi nodded and turned his head away from his raven-haired friend. His eyes skimmed the crowd of attractive women. There were several that he recognized as Kotaro's 'conquests'. He shivered when he thought about how many women his friend had had.

"Come on, Negi! Cheer up! I'll find you another girl who can show you a good time!" Kotaro looked around at the girls passing by. "One's bound to not have a crush on me."

"Hey."

Both Negi and Kotaro looked up. It was the girl that Negi had met earlier and she was grinning at the redhead.

"My favorite carrot-top!" Kotaro jumped to his feet. "You've come to make good on that offer that still stands?" He stepped closer to the girl, who took no notice of the flirting boy, having eyes only for Negi. Kotaro followed her gaze and a wide, mischievous grin spread across his face. "Ah, you came for my friend, Negi, I see. Sure you can take him." Kotaro started walking away. "You know what? I'm really jealous of you, Negster but oh well. Later and G'luck!"

_1-2-3_

Negi watched Kotaro leave then he looked up at the girl. When he realized that she hadn't taken her gaze off him, his face blazed with a red color. . .

_Nowhere yah were goin' no where fast_  
_ Maybe this time I'll be yours and you'll be mine_  
_C-c-c-crazy get your ass in my bed_  
_ Maybe you'll be just my summer boyfriend, summer boy_

"Have you been enjoying yourself? Or do you not like the music the D.J is spinning?" The girl sat down on the log next to Negi, allowing her knee to brush against his leg.

"Ah." Negi felt his tongue tie with unexpected nerves. "T- the music is fine." He hadn't been paying any attention to the party out of boredom but to his surprise, he recognized the song was playing. . .

_Let's get lost, you can take me home, somewhere nice_  
_ We can be alone_  
_ Bikini top's comin o-o-off_

"I like this song." She grabbed Negi's wrist and pulled him to his feet. "Dance with me."

_Don't be sad when the sun goes down_  
_ You'll wake up and I'm not around_  
_ I've got to go oh oh oh_  
_ We'll still have the summer after all_

Negi didn't know what to do so he just followed what the other men were doing. . .

_Sometimes you might start a fight_  
_ But I'm happy, pretending were alright_  
_ Sunglasses, cover up my green eyes_  
_ My martini glistens yeah_  
_ While checking out other guys_  
_ Summer boys_

The girl laughed when she saw Negi's pitiful attempts at dancing. "No, do it like this." She grabbed his hands and started to move with him. "Yeah, that's it."

_Let's get lost, you can take me home, somewhere nice_  
_ We can be alone_  
_ Bikini top's comin o-o-off_

Negi's heart was beating at a rapid pace. He could feel himself heat up as he watched the girl's body swaying to the beat. . .

_Don't be sad when the sun goes down_  
_ You'll wake up and I'm not around_  
_ I've got to go oh oh oh_  
_ We'll still have the summer after all_

She pulled him in close, her strong green and blue eyes staring into his soft brown eyes. Her gaze was uncomfortable and it made Negi incredibly self-conscious, yet he couldn't look away. . .

_Hey there summer boy_  
_ Let's go for a drive_  
_ Take me for a ride_  
_ Never gonna close our eyes_

She moved his hands to her hips so he could feel how she moved them. She drew closer to him, slightly rubbing up against him then suddenly as Negi allowed himself to feel her, she pushed herself away. . .

_Hey there summer boy_  
_ I'm a busy girl_  
_ Don't have too much time_  
_ Hurry up before I change my mind_

Negi watched as she slid her hands from her neck down along the curves of her body. . .

_Hey there summer boy_  
_ I'm takin off my heels_  
_ Let's go for a run_  
_ Have a little summer fun_  
_ Have a little summer fun_  
_ Summer boy_

He felt his head swimming as he watched her. There was a stirring feeling growing in his stomach that made him feel ashamed and excited at the same time.

_Let's get lost, you can take me home, somewhere nice_  
_ We can be alone_  
_ Bikini tops poppin o-o-off_

She grinned at the barely noticeable aroused expression on his face then she grabbed his hand, leading him away from the party. They made their way across the sand, over the boardwalk and toward a dark house near by. They were inside by the time Negi snapped out of his daze.

_Don't be sad when the sun goes down_  
_ You'll wake up and I'm not around_  
_ You've got to go oh oh oh_  
_ We'll still have the summer after -_

"Where-?" He glanced around at the darkness surrounding them in confusion.

She put a finger to his lips. "Shhhh." She lead him through the dark up some stairs. "Don't worry about it." She opened a door and mentioned for Negi to enter. He was able to squint inside the moon-lit room before the girl roughly pushed him onto the bed. The sheets of the soft bed smelled sweetly like vanilla and honey. This scent calmed Negi's jittery stomach, that is, until the girl jumped on top of him.

"Wait!" His heart was racing as he looked up at the girl straddling him. Even in the dim lighting, he could see her grinning at him.

"For what?" The girl smiled as her hands disappeared behind her back toward her bikini top strap. She untied her top and held the fabric in place with her hands. "What do you want to wait for?"

He blushed, barely whispering his words. "I- I- I haven't done this before."

"I know."

"Y- you do? How?"

"It's painfully obvious, Negi." Hearing his name coming from her lips sent an unexpected electric shock through Negi's body. "Plus, Kotaro has talked a lot about you, mainly to poke fun but he has said some nice, surprising things. He never did mention you were handsome." She gazed seductively into Negi's eyes. "I've always found you interesting, even when I didn't know you looked this _delicious_."

Negi squeaked quietly as he felt her lower herself down on his waist. His body wanted to move against her but he restrained himself. "Y- you've always found me i- interesting?" His forced his voice to remain normal. "H- how is this? I j- just met you today."

She leaned down toward him, moving her hips slightly into Negi. His hands clutched the bed sheets in response to the warm pressure on him. "I first saw you around a year and a half ago thanks to Kotaro. I've been watching you ever since." She allowed her bikini top to fall from her body. "Now I finally get to have you."

Before Negi could react, she grabbed his face and forced a hard kiss onto his lips. She managed to open his mouth and work her tongue into him. His heart was pounding in his ears as he felt himself slip back into that daze he was in when he watched her dancing at the party. When the girl finally broke their kiss, she giggled as she looked down at him. Negi realized that he had been unconsciously thrusting his hips against her, rubbing himself into her warm flesh. His hands were gripping her hips tightly, keeping her in place on top of him. When he saw her amused gaze, he pulled his hands away.

"Ah! I'm so sorry! I- I didn't mean to do that!" He shook his head from side to side in shame. "H- how ungentlemanly of me!"

"Gentleman? You are different." She grabbed his hands and pushed them against her chest. She gasped when he squeezed her breasts then she smiled. "I wonder how much the gentleman underneath me can resist before he becomes a simple man."

_Let's get lost, you can take me home, somewhere nice_  
_ We can be alone_  
_ I got my eyes on a summer boy_  
_ Don't be sad when the sun goes down_  
_ You'll wake up and I'm not around_

Negi blushed crimson as his hands felt the soft skin of her chest. "I. . ."

"Enough."

She gave him another passionate kiss that drove all of Negi's hesitations out of his mind. . .

_I got my eyes on a summer summer boy_  
_ And we'll still have the summer after all

* * *

_

_**END

* * *

**dear readers/whoever-was-bored-enough-to-read-my-crap:  
i know that, just like i, you people skipped the lyrics.  
you will never have to go through that AGAIN!  
I PROMISE.  
signed jen_

_ps did anyone notice i made Negi sleep with someone whose name he never got?  
heehee. . .  
_


	8. Swear to Me

**note:** 02/24/2011- i've been reading a Naruto AU involving humans 'bonding' with demons, so i was inspired to make my own Negima version! (plot, title and everything not involving the idea of 'a human bonding to a demon' are my own creations) i thought about making it a multi-chapter series, but then i got lazy x]

* * *

**Swear to Me**

**Rated: T

* * *

**

Purple and blood-red flames blazed in a small hillside town. Homes were burning to the ground with this strange fire which let off no heat. The sky was black with thick, gray smoke; it made the air heavy and suffocating. The land was black with the scorching and the ash of anything the flames touched. No green, no color, the scenery was stripped of the life it once held; nothing moved, nothing lived. Everything was destroyed, everything was dead, well, almost everything.

A black, hooded figure was standing before a woman cornered between a wall and itself. The woman was crying and crouching protectively over something. When the figure stepped toward her, she flinched, revealing a child around the age of ten draped beneath her heavy, tattered clothing. Words of pain filled the air as the woman tried to bargain for her child's safety. The figure showed no reaction to the woman's pleas of sparing her child's life.

"Please! Have a heart! Take me and spare my boy!" The woman fell to her knees in front of the tall hooded figure. She held her clenched hands up in a prayer-like position as fat tears rolled down her dirt-stained face. "Please! I'm begging you!"

The figure took another step forward and removed his hood. A barely audible gasp escaped the woman's lips as she beheld it's male face. Beneath the hood was a head full of beautiful, dark red hair that glowed even in the strange lighting. Beneath that red hair was a face like an angel's in every way: smooth, porcelain skin; large, brown eyes; elegant bone structure. An unholy beautiful face which held no expression what so ever. The woman was bewitched when she saw the beauty of the man and, for a moment, she forgot where she was, she forgot what was happening, she forgot herself. He opened his perfect lips, hinted with a pale red, to speak. For another moment, the woman knew nothing but he melodious voice.

"I have no heart."

It took a second for the spell over the woman to break but when it did, the tears returned. "Please! Please allow my boy to live! Please! He's only ten!" She pushed the frighten boy toward the man. "Please! Keep him! I'll give him to you! His name is Kotaro!"

His expression did not change as the sobbing boy bumped into his legs. The man didn't even glance down at the boy.

"Alright."

The woman's eyes widened at this one word. New tears flowed down, but now they were tears of sorrowful joy. "Thank you! Thank you!" The woman stumbled forward on her knees to kiss the man's feet. "Thank you! God be praised!"

The man eyes followed the woman so that he was looking down his nose at her. When she looked up at him, he ran a cool hand through her black hair. "I will keep my promise."

Before the woman could respond, the man grabbed the boy by the neck in a choking grip.

"Wait! Please! You told me that he would live!" The woman pulled at his long black robes in an attempt to distract the man. "Please! You said he would live."

"And he will." His lovely face was blank and his eyes were dead as his grip on the boy's neck tightened. With one smooth kick in the gut, the woman was forced away from the man. "He will live a soulless existence." He lifted the struggling, gasping child off his feet, holding him up in the air in front of his mother so that she could see perfectly what he was about to do to her child. "A soulless existence." He repeated the words gently as he stared into the tearful, golden eyes of the boy.

Out of his other hand's fingers grew sharp, black claws, which, with a scream from the woman, he plunged into the boy's stomach. The boy let out a blood-curling scream as the clawed hand moved inside him and drew blood from the gushing wound. The purple and red light from the fires danced across the man's handsome, stone face and give him a other-worldly look that the woman could not help but find hypnotic while her child screamed his throat raw.

The body of the boy went limp when the man finally pulled out his hand. He tossed the boy to the side as he stepped slowly toward the woman. His predator-like walk snapped her out of her female fantasy.

"Y- you m- monster." Her words were coated with hate and fear as a new flood of tears ran down her face.

The man showed no emotion as his clawed hand went to surround the woman's head so slowly. "Die with this last thought: your son _will_ live by my side. He _will_ kill by my side. He _will_ serve my every whim. He will become what _I_ am, a blood-thirsty monster. All the while he _will _be conscious of what his body is doing." The black claws dug into the woman's skull, sending trails of blood down her face alongside her tears. "And he will hate himself and he will hate you for giving him such a fate. Die knowing you condemned your flesh to a hellful existence."

Tears rolled down her face as the man's stoic expression at last changed into one of crazed joy. That was the last thing the woman saw before his claws crushed her skull and her blood covered the ground under her.

* * *

_Seventy-five years later. . ._

It was late in the morning, nearly the afternoon, and a town on the outskirts of an unknown mountain range was busy with action but it wasn't the everyday action of live, it was the action of_ fear_. Although there was not a full blow outbreak of panic, the air in this small town was thick with anxiety. The villagers scurried to and forth pulling carts, animals, children as the women took charge because of the unusual absence of men. This town's population consisted nearly of women and children with few older males that looked to be around a grandparent's age. The lack of male presence was one factor in the situation that deeply disturbed the townsfolk. The one other factor which was worse than the first was that _it_ was coming. The _devil _was heading their way, and that was why fear was in every one of those common folk's eyes.

A tall, heavy woman came tugging a huge cow toward a lonely girl standing in the middle of the chaos, viewing the uneasy townspeople around her. "You, girl, take this ox and follow the rest of 'em!"

"Gran Ripply! We can't just leave! We have to fight!" The tall, orange-haired girl with mismatched eyes stomped her brown-booted foot into the dirt. Her simple, gray-blue dress fluttered in the dusty wind at her movement. "We can't always run from that demon! Everyone runs!"

"And for good reason, too! That devil creature and its servant kill everythn' they touch! If we stay and fight, it'll finish us all off like it did to the country's army! Why'd you think we ain't got any of our men back?" The girl's green and blue eyes began to mist. "Oh, girlie, I didn't mean that your papa ain't gonna come back! I'm sure he'll come back! But for now we've got to protect ourselves so we can meet up later, okay?" The heavy set woman pulled at the ox standing beside her and gave the reins to the girl. "Now take Bessie to a safe place and keep yourself from grabbn' any attention." The woman turned her attention to a couple of unsupervised children which she yelled at as she ran toward those children.

The girl glanced around at the chaotic town. Dust was in the air as the people ran, attempting to salvage anything they could. The monsters would be here in a few hours. It had been luck that this town managed to hear word of the approaching devils. Usually, they came unannounced, killed everyone, left no survivors, and burned down any that could be burnt down. Now with the warning that her town had received, the casualties of the devil's attack would be low, if any.

Something about this knowledge bothered the girl. The devil was said to never leave any survivors, so how could the town catch wind of his presence?

She looked at the families that she had come to know. They would never make it far enough to protect themselves, even with the hours head start. The devil will follow their scents, find them, and torture them to death. And if the devil did, by some miracle, decide to not follow her townspeople, he would just attack the other nearest village from hers.

_Murderer. _Her small hands clenched at her sides. She couldn't allow for that to happen. Whether the devil be killing strangers to her or not, she could not allow for his pointless murders to continue, not when she could do something. Could she do something? Her hand felt the stiff bump in her pocket. Perhaps she could. If she could somehow find a why to trick the devil into saying _those_ words her father had taught her, she would have to sacrifice her freedom first and then, maybe her own life after that, but it would be worth it to restrain it from ever killing again. If it didn't sense her item or her energy activating the item and said _those_ words, then her people would be spared. She needed to conceal herself, her energy and the object's magical properties.

First, she would need bait and a hiding place so that the devil would not kill her without giving her a chance to succeed.

She glanced at the ox and with a gentle rub, she apologized to it. "Sorry, old girl."

* * *

On a hillside, not too far from the busy village, stood two figures watching the scene, one with a black hooded cloak and the other with a dark green hooded cloak. The green cloak tilted its head slightly and out of the dark hood came a male voice.

"I enjoy the ones who run. Although, this village doesn't seem to have anything that could satisfy my craving." The man paused as he quickly counted the people leaving the village. The head count had passed eighty when he murmured in a low, husky voice, "No village ever does."

The black hooded figure made no reply to his master's words. He just kept staring forward; his dull, golden eyes not seeing anything of the village in front of them.

* * *

_Where is that thing! It's almost been four hours and I'm getting tired of waiting here!_ The girl shifted nervously in her hiding spot under a porch. She had tied up the ox known as Bessie to a pole five meters from her chosen place. _That warning better not have been a fake!_ Her hand wrapped around the object stabbing her leg. _Please, God, let my plan work if the devil comes. _

She had just laid her heavy head down to rest when her ox suddenly let out a shrill cry. The girl jumped and focused on what may have scared Bessie but she saw nothing. The ox gave another cry louder and higher than the first. Her eyes flew wildly from left to right as she tried to spy the threat. She looked left then right and when she glance left again, someone in a dark green cape was standing in the distance facing her way. She sucked in her breath as her heart beat sped up to an uncontrollable rate. _Has it noticed me?_ The ox bucked wildly, grabbing the girl's attention, and then a large hand reached into her hiding place to pull her out. She yelped and kicked, trying to escape from the tight grip around her arm as the person dragged her to the figure in the green cape.

"A girl? That was all they left behind? A girl and a beast?" The soft voice coming from the green-hooded person shocked her. It was so pleasant to hear that it made her want to drown into it's melody as if someone was singing her a lullaby. She nearly melted at the chuckle coming from the hood. "Look at the child. She is already falling under my charms. I wonder what we should do with her." As the person spoke the girl's legs wobbled with pleasure which origins were unknown her. "Do you want her?" The black hooded person didn't respond. "Perhaps you would like to have your first female then kill her after you break her?"

Her brain wasn't working and she knew it. She knew she had to do something but it was so hard concentrating when her ears heard his voice. Who was this person with such a marvelous voice? An angel? _An angel?_ Or was he something else? The person chuckled again.

"How amusing young female humans can be. She's already smitten by only hearing my voice. Let's see how you react when you see my face." The green-hooded person walked slowly to the black-hooded person holding up their prisoner. The girl watched in fear and awe as he pulled down his hood slowly and dramatically. That beautiful unholy face hadn't aged a year. His brown eyes still held a dull sparkle as he studied her, his smooth skin still glowed under the sun's harsh rays; his dark red hair was still thick and shiny. The girl lost herself in his beauty, she was speechless. "All females are the same: they always fall for the appearance. Kotaro take her, consider it as a treat." The beautiful man turned away from the girl and the black-hooded person began to drag the girl to a nearby house.

That seemed to dispel the enchantment over her. "Hey! Hey you, stupid jerk!" The girl kicked and tugged as she was dragged nearer to the home. "HEY! Let go of me, you piece of shit!"

"Oh my, what a loud child we have here." The red-haired man suddenly appeared in front of the girl. It shocked her to have his handsome face so near hers. "Do you wish a certain future?" Something flared inside her heart and her stomach. The man's eyes widened momentarily then they returned to a blank stare. "Kotaro, make her suffer." That something moved the girl to do the one thing she would have never done to this man under any circumstances, she spit in his handsome face.

Asuna felt the grip on her arm release her and the person behind her disappeared. The redhead in front of her made no reaction for a long while until a slow, pale hand reached up to touch the saliva on his cheek. She nearly had a stroke. _What the hell did I just do? Now he's seriously gonna kill me! Just look at that stare!_ Those brown eyes held no emotion as he stared at her then at the moisture on his fingers.

When he spoke, his words came out threatening yet strangely calm. "I will force you to pass through the seven hells before you die." A black clawed hand clenched around her throat then a choked gasp slipped out of her mouth when she felt his cool, strangling touch. "Any last, coherent words?"

The girl nodded her head as best as she could while a sharp claw stroke her cheek. "Pro- promise me one thing." What resembled an icy smirk graced his lips. How he loved breaking promises. "Be bonded to me."

Surprise filled his face and his grip loosened. Out of all the things humans had begged of him to promise, becoming bonded to a human female was never one. Sure, they all fell under his uncontrolled enchantments, but none had dared proposed such an attachment. _To be bonded._ "What?" The word slipped out before he could stop himself.

Asuna could speak clearer now that his hold on her was slacking. "Swear to me that you and I will become one. You will live as long as I live and I will live as long as you live-"

"I know what it means to be bonded!" The man nearly snapped her neck then and there. "Why?"

"Don't ask why, just swear." The girl felt his grip slipping. So her proposition shocked him. She would have thought more women would have asked to be the mate of such a man, even if he was a devil. His clawed hand suddenly tightened around her neck.

"Do you actually believe I would fall for such a simple trick? What do you plan to do once we've bonded? Tame me?" He squeezed her neck and she released a tiny yelp. "No, I will not be bound to you, disgusting human child."

She was running out of time and she knew it. She only had to make him say _those_ words; he didn't have to act on his promise. "O- okay th- then, can you ju- just give me the illusion of becoming bonded with me?"

There was a twinkle of amusement in his lifeless eyes. "Are you that desperate for me? Have my charms made you lose your mind?"

"Ple- please, you just have to say it, you don't have to keep it. I just want to hear the oath of mating you demons have in your own voice before you kill me." _Make it seem like you're trapped by his appearance._ The girl struggled to control her heart. It's undeniable that the devil could feel the quick pulse of her veins. If he decided to probe the reasons for her anxiety, he would find that it was something else making her stressful, not love nor fear. The amusement drained from his eyes as he stared down at the girl. She was beginning to lose hope that he would just kill her there instead of taking time to tell her the oath.

"Alright." He released her and she fell backwards into the dirt. "I'll grant you this one annoyance before I take your life." He turned away from her as his hands went to his cape. The green cloth fell from his shoulders to reveal lack clothing that was hidden underneath it.

"Wh- what are you doing?" The girl stared up at the man while he pulled of his black vest.

"If I am to say the oath for the first time in my existence," his hands went to his black turtleneck shirt, "I want to make you feel what you are asking for." He pulled his shirt over his head, momentarily covering his red hair with the clothing and exposing his back to the stunned girl. He turned to face her with his now bare torso and the sight of him made her almost faint. "If you plan on somehow tricking me into submission, don't even try. The petty laws of low-level monsters can not affect me. Now," his mouth twisted into a smirk as he took a step closer to the girl, "_I swear to be bonded to you-_?" He paused for the girl to give her name.

"A- Asuna Kagurazaka." She said almost as if in a trance.

He continued with what seemed like a sarcastic smirk. "_I, formally known as Negi Springfield, swear to be bonded to you, Asuna Kagurazaka-_. . ."

She wasn't conscious of the rest of the words floating from his lovely lips. Asuna recognized parts of the oath her father had taught her, but for the rest of it she was stunned at those first twelve words he said before her name. She had him in her palm and he didn't know it. Had it really been that easy to bind herself to the most dangerous creature in this world? Her hand clasped around the object in her pocket. She felt slightly sluggish as the object drained some of her energy to complete the activation process.

"_-for as long as I live you shall live and for as long as you live I shall live. This I so solemnly swear to Asuna Kagurazaka._" He finished with a mocking bow then he released a cold, mechanic laugh that did not touch his dead, brown eyes. "I can feel the oath trying to bind me! But it is too weak." A bright blue aura began to form around the devil and Asuna but it was quickly devoured by another deep purple aura seeping out of the devil's body. His dark laughter continued. "So this is what it means to be stronger than the Demon King?"

He was taunting her, he was taunting the Demon King, he was taunting anyone to prove themselves stronger than he was. The only reason he had stated the oath was, not to grant a girl her dying wish, but to prove himself stronger than the most powerful being in the netherworld, the Demon King, whose oath it was. The reason didn't matter, the only thing that did matter was that he has said those words to her, _that_ was the only thing she needed to win. Her words came out unfazed and strong when she realized she had won. "Your pride shall be your downfall." The devil looked at her new found bravery with an expressionless face.

"I will have no downfall."

Suddenly, thick, glowing-white ropes erupted from her dress pocket to bind the girl. While the ropes bound to her body, they began to crawl toward the surprised devil. He took an unconscious step backwards.

"What-!" His dead eyes now held shock when he recognized the object that burst out of the girl's dress. "Im- impossible! I destroyed all these artifacts!"

As he stepped away, the ropes crawled faster toward him. The devil that called himself Negi full-out ran in the opposite direction of the white object and it's binding, glowing ropes. The ropes began to shoot through the air to match his blinding speed until one finally managed to lock onto his right leg. He attacked the rope, both physically and with black magic but nothing seemed to break it. In an effort to stall the magical process, the devil clawed at the ground, carving deep scratch markings into the earth but the rope kept pulling at his leg. That one rope was joined by others as it dragged him back to the girl and a glowing statue of a bird holding weights in each wing.

"You can't escape, devil." Asuna's body was now completely covered with the white ropes so that all one could see was her determined face. The ropes lifted the girl into the air alongside the object as both began to float. "This is not an oath before humans or demons. This is an oath before God. You can, _will _not break it."

The devil glanced up at the girl just in time to catch a triumphant grin before the thick ropes covered her completely. _I will wipe that smile off your face when this is over, then you will beg for me to end your pathetic life._ He felt the ropes bind his legs together and begin to form a cocoon around him similar to the one the girl was in. Emotion finally showed in his face: pure, untainted hate. "I'll kill you! I swear, even if I have to kill myself, I will kill you!"

The white ropes drowned his enraged screams as they slowly covered his handsomely distorted face and lifted his cocoon to join his oath partner near the small statue. There was a dead silence as the two cocoons and the statue were suspended in the air and then a bright light flashed, blinding any normal being who may have been watching.

"Master." The black-hooded person, who was passively viewing everything that had past between the girl and the devil, stepped out of the shadows. "Master was caught." There was a tiny smile on his tanned yet pale face.

* * *

**_TBC (if i feel like it). . ._**


	9. Paper Note

**note: **03/03/2011 - thank you to everyone reading my stories so far, i hope that they are entertaining! so, this story is up next. i feel like i'm having too many shower scenes, but i can't help it! showers are always so dramatic! this one is AU

* * *

**Paper Note**

**Rated: T

* * *

**

_Keys, wallet, glasses. . ._

Negi patted his pockets to make sure he had everything he needed before he left for his best friend's house. He stood in front of his full-length mirror, making sure each strand of his spiky auburn-colored hair was in place. He didn't know why it mattered if his hair was perfect, he was just going over to his friend's house to watch a movie; his hair didn't need to be glamorous.

A little voice whispered in his mind. _Maybe it has to? For a certain someone, hm?_

He whipped his head side to side. _Nonsense! For whom?_

_Don't play dumb, you know who._ Negi saw his reflection grow red. He knew exactly _who_ the little voice meant.

If Asuna were to hear his thoughts, she would outright laugh at him. His blushing reflection frowned at him. For some reason, having Asuna laughing at him for thinking about 'lovey-dovey' thoughts bothered Negi more than he would have thought.

_Enough!_ Negi thought to himself, turning away from his mirror to face his room. _I'll just think of something else._

He smiled to himself as he surveyed his clean room. Everything was so nice and neat, just the way he liked it.

Satisfied, he made his way over to the door and was about to exit when a piece of pink paper crushed under his heavy college books caught his eye.

One of his eyebrows went up in a questioning look. That pink paper isn't his. It must have been swept out from somewhere when he cleaned the other day since he doesn't carry any_ pink_ paper. He carefully lifted his thick stack of books to tug out the paper from under the weight. It was folded neatly and the corners were worn, making the paper appear aged. Negi studied it curiously as he turned it around in his fingers. How could he have not seen it? If this paper was as old as it appeared to be, how had it escaped his sight?

More curiosity ate away at the young man, so he gave in and gently pulled it open, careful not to tear the fragile stationery apart.

Once it was unfolded, he immediately recognized whose handwriting it was. His breath was trapped in his lungs as he stared at the message that was scribbled on the paper. What surprised him most was the date that was at the top; according to the date, it was written over four years ago. He eyes went back and forth from date to the messy sentences. _It this true?_

Negi stood frozen still in the middle of his room. What if it was true? What would he do?

_I told you to quit playing dumb!_ His mind screamed at him. It was right. He was playing dumb.

He cramped the paper into his jacket pocket as he ran out of his room, ran out of his house and completely ran the three blocks to _her_ house.

Once there, he rang the door bell repeatedly, not stopping until a woman wearing glasses opened the door.

"Hello-"

The boy cut her off.

"Ms. Shizuna! Asuna, where is she?"

The busty woman gazed at the panting redhead. "She's up in her room."

Even before Shizuna could finish what she was saying, Negi brushed passed her and ran up the stairs. The woman stared at the young man running up toward her daughter's room. What could have made him so agitated? While her mind worked this small puzzle, she remembered that Asuna was busy and most likely not presentable. _Should I tell him that she just came out of the shower?_ Shizuna heard a door swing open then slam shut. _Too late now I guess. _To her surprise_, _she felt a wave of happiness flood her body.

"Honey? What was that?" Her husband, Takamichi, popped out from their kitchen doorway.

"Nothing to worry about, dear. Although," she put a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "I do believe it's best that we head out for now."

"Huh? Why?"

"I think Negi is about to confess to our lovely Asuna."

His eyebrows scrunched together as his mouth bent into a soft frown. "So? Why should we leave?"

"What if something. . . something amorous happens?"

"What? I won't allow it!" The man began stomping his way up the stairs to his daughter's room.

The woman grabbed his arm, stopping him from going any further. "Forget it, just come. We've been waiting a long time for this. I won't let anything screw this moment up for Asuna." Whispering a small prayer for good luck, she pulled her husband out of the house.

* * *

Negi stood still as he stared at Asuna in only a small towel covering her female assets. The water dripping off her body and her long, orange hair were proof that she had just stepped out of a shower. She had been searching through her drawers for clothing when Negi suddenly burst into her room unannounced.

"Dude! Don't people knock anymore?" She quickly jumped behind the side of her drawer to hide herself for Negi. "Gosh, Negi! You can be a little more like that gentleman you always call yourself." Negi said nothing, he just stared at her. "Wha- what! What is it, you punk!" The blush on Asuna's face became heavier. She grabbed a nearby rabbit plushy and threw it at the redhead. "Stop looking at me like you're gonna eat me!" Negi didn't catch the plushy, he didn't even block it or step out of the way; he just let it hit him in the face. "Dang it!" She was about to run into her bathroom when the young man held up the pink slip of paper. "What's that?" He took a step closer to her.

"Do you still feel the same since you wrote this?"

"What are you talking about? Can't you see I have no clothes on?" Negi walked over to her. "Hey! Stay back!" Asuna held out an arm to keep the male at a distance. "We might be good friends but we're not that good of friends!" Negi stared at her blushing face.

"I don't want to be your friend anymore."

The girl's eyes widened with surprise. "What? Why? You're joking, right?" Negi grabbed her wrist and forced her fingers to wrap around the pink paper. She looked at the paper in her hand then at the fingers gripping her wrist then at the fingers' owner. "Why are you giving me this?"

"Read it."

Asuna pulled her wrist out of his hold and opened the paper. Negi watched her eyes skim the paper uninterested at first, then, they became large as she reread what was written.

Her hands dropped to her sides when she finished and her eyes stayed looking down at the floor, away from Negi.

"Do you still feel the same as when you wrote that love confession?"

Instead of answering his question, she crushed the paper and threw it at his face. Her angry green and blue eyes glistened with new tears.

"I thought you got rid of this thing a long time ago! Why are you suddenly bringing it up out of nowhere!"

It was Negi's turn to be surprised. "What?"

"You didn't give me a proper answer, you jackass! You just ignored I ever wrote that! You stupid, insensitive jerk!" She tossed another plushy at him. This time he blocked it with his left hand.

"What are you talking about? Asuna!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Don't think I'll believe that 'I-had-no-idea' crap! You ignored my feelings for you and you just brushed me off! You didn't even reject me!" Negi stepped closer to the girl even though she kept throwing objects at him. "Stay back! I cried for weeks because of you!"

"Asuna."

He lunged at the girl, grabbed her wrists and slammed her on the bed. Negi pinned her legs down with his knees, and, with his right hand, secured her hands above her head while he rested his weight on the other. What was he doing? Ever since he had seen Asuna standing in a wet towel, he had been acting weird. He knew that he was being really forward but forcing her down on the bed was too much! Wasn't it?

"Tell me. Do you still feel the same?" His eyes seem to plead for the right answer but Asuna only glared up defiantly at Negi. A deep blush invaded his cheeks as he realized the position they were in and the thin, wet cloth clinging to dear life on the body of the girl underneath him. He resisted the unbelievably strong urge to press himself against her.

"I don't have to answer that."

"A- answer me or. . . or I- I'll. . . I'll kiss you."

Hearing this ultimatum coming from his own mouth surprised him. As a gentleman, Negi would never force any woman to kiss him -not that he needed to force anyone- but the words he just stated now was not something he would say nor even _think_ of saying. Even with the nervous knot building in his stomach, Negi refused to look away from her face as her eyes bore into his, frantically searching for an explanation as to why he would say such a thing.

"W- why? You have no reason to threaten me in such a way!"

Negi moved his left hand and his entire body weight rested on Asuna, causing her to gasp slightly. Her sound made Negi's stomach do wild hula-hoops. What the hell was he doing? This was clearly wrong! He moved slightly and he could feel her curves adjusting to his male frame. He couldn't help stop a shiver of excitement run down his spine. This was clearly very, VERY wrong!

"Why won't you just answer me!"

"G- get- get off me!"

His knees slipped between her legs and Asuna began to kick her legs wildly, in an attempt to move the stubborn man. "P- please! Why won't y- you answer?" His hold on Asuna's wrists broke and she begun to pound his chest with her clenched fists.

"Off! Off! Off! Get off me, you!"

When she managed to throw him off herself, Asuna jumped up and ran to her bathroom. She slammed the door so hard that the pictures hanging on that wall fell to the floor.

Negi sprang up to his feet and ran to the closed bathroom door. "Asuna! Please! I need to know if you still feel the same!"

"NO!" There was a pause before the girl continued. "You said you didn't want to be my friend anymore because of that letter!"

Negi leaned his forehead on the bathroom door. He could already feel his face heat up. "That's. . . that's not what I meant."

A long silence followed what he said. He could picture Asuna's face scrunching up as she tried to comprehend what he was trying to say.

"What did you mean then?"

"I- I- I meant th- that. . ." _Come on! _He encouraged himself._ Be brave! You can do it!_ "-that I- I would l- like to be more t- than your fr- friend." He cleared his throat. "M- maybe, maybe y- your. . ." He cleared his throat again before squeaking out the rest of his sentence. "-your b- boyfriend?"

More silence. His heart pounded in his chest as he waited for her response. Who would have thought that confessing took so much effort? No wonder Asuna was so pissed about the little paper. She must have felt this anxious while waiting for his reply. _And when it didn't come. . ._ Negi swallowed nervously. Would she refuse him because of what he didn't do?

"O- okay."

His heart nearly stopped. Did he hear right or was it just his mind playing tricks on him? He had to make sure his ears heard right. "Wha- what wa- was th- that?"

He heard her angry voice through the bathroom door. "Geeze! I said okay, dammit! Why can't you pay attention?"

_She said yes! _His mind happily sang to himself. _She said yes! _"Ah, of course! But. . ."

"But what?" She replied sharply.

"C- could you open the door?"

"NO!"

"W- why not?" A tiny hint of worry slipped into his voice.

"Because I still haven't forgiven you yet!"

Negi tapped his forehead against the door. How the hell did he fall for someone so stubborn?

* * *

_**END**_


	10. Best Friends

**note:** 07/19/2010 - so i've decided to add a summary to each chapter. i find it's useful when i'm reading other people's drabbles, so why not, right?

* * *

_summary: Negi's in love with his old friend, but she's with someone else. Will he be able to steal a simple kiss? AU  
_

* * *

**Best Friends**

_**Rated: T**_

* * *

"You're such a little kid, Negi!"

Negi flinched slightly when a pillow was thrown at his face. He was at his best friend's house, keeping her company until he was forced out by her adoptive father. It always made him feel happy to be around her; to see her smile, to hear her laugh. His heart lept when ever he would hear her voice calling for him. A tingle would travel down his spine when ever she got close enough for him to smell her scent, to feel her warmth, to rub his skin against hers. . .

Okay, by now it should be obvious that Negi was in love with his best friend. He was and he had been for a very long time.

They had grown up together since his small family had moved next door to the Takahata's when he was six.

At the beginning, she had been a mean child, roughing poor little Negi around because she was older than him by two years. That all changed when the girl had seen the neighborhood bullies harassing the little redhead. Ever since the day that she had stood up for Negi and had given those bullies a good beating, they have been inseparable. She would drag the shy boy everywhere she went, whether it be the mall, the park, or the grocery store. Negi didn't know what brought about this sudden change and quite frankly he didn't care. He had finally made a friend and that was all that mattered to a boy.

So Negi went along with her strange antics. . .

He didn't complain when she forced him to go where she went, he didn't fight her when she played dress up with him and forced him to wear dresses, he never said no to her. He even studied at school like a mad man, all in hopes of skipping two grades to be in the same grade as her -in the end, he did manage to skip one grade, which turned out to be perfect since the girl was held back a year.

And just like they did everything together, they shared everything as well. They had shared food, toys, pets, clothing, beds, you name it and they had probably shared it. Not one thing did they keep from each other. And it was heaven for him to be so near someone who unconditionally liked him.

But, as time changes everything, it also changed their relationship. . .

It all started at the beginning of their second year of high school when Asuna had snagged herself one of the most popular guys in school: Fate Averruncus, who happened to also be a very strange and emotionless young man. How he was so popular baffled Negi since Fate neither moved a finger to please anyone.

After the initial heart break that came when Asuna broke the news to Negi she was going 'steady' with Fate, Negi reflected on how their relationship came to be. Their courtship never made any sense to him He had honestly never seen them _once_ exchange words with each other. When had his best friend fallen for that Fate guy? She wasn't the type to fall for looks or else she would have bitten Negi's line a long time ago -may girls claim that he himself is unbelievably handsome- so 'hooking up' because Fate was 'hwot' was out of the question. It puzzled him and he couldn't help but wonder if there was anything else behind their sudden arrangement. . .

"Negi? Would you snap out of it?"

Another pillow hit his face.

"Asuna, can I ask you something?"

The girl froze, bracing herself for anything that would come from his mouth. She was always suspicious of what came out of the redhead's mouth, so she spoke slowly and carefully. "Yeah, sure."

Negi blushed a crimson red before he asked his question. "What- I mean how did you come to know that- that you. l- lo- loved Fate?"

"Wh- what are you saying? I don't love Fate!" Asuna slapped both hands against her bed in embarrassed frustration. "We're barely sixteen- well, he's sixteen, I'm seventeen. How are we supposed to know what l- love is?"

"D- do you plan on m- marrying Fate?" The girl stared at Negi so hard that he had to lower his weak gaze to the quilted pattern of her bed's cover.

"Why are you asking me this, Neg?"

"Isn't that what's dating all about?" Negi was surprised with his sudden forward self. When had he gotten so bold as to ask his best friend if she was in love with her boyfriend?

"Well, yeah, but that's when you're older, not at our age."

"Isn't that p- playing with someone's emotions? If you're dating and don't plan on going further?" The girl's face filled with slight shock so Negi quickly looked for a way to change the conversation. "C- can I tell you something then?"

Asuna tilted her head with guarded curiosity. "Sure."

She looked so cute to Negi, cute as a puppy, so cute that his words rolled out before he even had a chance to think. "I- I think I'm in love with yo- someone!" At the last minute, he managed to fix that slip up, or at least Negi thought he did.

"What? Y- you're in love with s- someone?" His whole face went beet red as his mouth flapped open and shut. Asuna watched him with a smile slowly spreading across her face. "You love someone? Who is she? For how long? Why haven't you told me?" The girl bounced excitedly on her bed. "Tell me who this lucky gal is! Maybe I could fix something up!"

"Ah- erm- s- she's. . ." He couldn't think. Negi had no idea how to properly lie to Asuna. First, he attempted to say any girl's name, but then he felt it wouldn't be right since he held no romantic feelings toward another girl. He then attempted to draw up a girl he believed was beautiful but again, he couldn't choose who. Instead of pulling up blank, like the previous effort, a flood of lovely girls rushed his mind. _Ayaka? Konoka? Setsuna? Makie? Yuuna? Who to choose?_

"Yo." Asuna crawled on all fours across her bed over to where Negi was sitting and bonked his head with her knuckles. "Negi, why are you stressing about it? I won't tell her if you don't want me to."

The boy's surprised eyes looked at the face that was so close to his, just inches away that if he were to lean forward slightly, his lips would lock with hers. . .

And leaning nearer to the girl is exactly what he did. Her could feel her breath on his skin and for a long while, Negi kept his face so close to hers as his eyes were shut tight, dreaming of what would happen if he kissed her.

"Erm, Negi?"

He opened his eyes slowly. Asuna's mismatched eyes were wide and she was blushing.

"What are you doing?"

"Eh, er, huh?" He blinked repeatedly.

"I mean, why are you so close to me?"

"Eh? Oh, I- I was just, just. . . practicing? Yes! I was practicing!" Negi resisted the urge to exhale in relief since his face was still so near to Asuna's.

"Okay. But practicing for what?"

"For- for, er. . ." His mind spun as he tried to think of excuse. It didn't help that Asuna still hadn't moved back an inch. "For-" _What happens in movies!_ His mind shifted to the romantic eighties movie he had watched two nights ago with Asuna and her friends. _'Pretend I'm her,'_ the main female character had said in order to get the main lead to kiss her. "For when I have to kiss the girl I love."

"Okay let me get this straight. You want to practice kissing on _me_ so when you finally nab a girl, it looks like you know what you're doing?" Oh God, it sounds so _ridiculous_ coming out of her. Will she buy it? Negi watched as Asuna's face scrunched up as she tossed the idea around in her head. "Well, I guess it makes sense for a guy to practice first." -WHAT? SHE BOUGHT IT?- "But don't think I'll help you out with anything else! I haven't even gone to second base with Fate."

Somehow, those words calmed his nerves. . . a bit.

Asuna sat herself down beside Negi and grinned. "So, let's start."

Those words sent his nerves sky rocketing back up. _Way_ up.

"What! Now?" He squeaked as his face burned with heat. She can't be serious! She just can't be serious! Can she?

"Well, _duh_. When else?" The girl of his affections inched her face closer to his own. Her eyes closed half way and her pink lips puckered up slightly in anticipation of meeting Negi's lips. Or at least that was how it looked like to him.

He swallowed down his nerves as best as he could. _Come on, Negi! You can do this! Years of dreaming and imagining and finally you're going to kiss her! Man up and take her! _"O- okay. . ."

The redhead leaned in slowly. Everything, everything he felt. The knot in his stomach, the rapid beat of his heart, the warm intensity filling his chest. He would put everything he felt in this one kiss. He prayed that she would understand what he felt.

_One. . ._

_Two. . ._

_Three. . ._

In a bold movement so unlike him, he fisted his hand into her hair to pull her in closer to him. The last thing he saw just before he tightly shut his brown eyes was the startled expression on the face of the person he loved.

_Amazing._

That one word expressed how it felt to kiss her. He hugged Asuna closer to his body as he put all his suppressed emotions into their kiss. He would make her feel what he feels for her. His tongue slipped through his slightly opened mouth. Her lips were smooth yet he could feel with his tongue the barely noticeable creases in her skin of when she would bite her lip or twist them when she was bored. It wasn't imperfection. It was _beautiful_.

Suddenly, he felt like he needed to know more of what made his Asuna _Asuna_.

He silently begged with his mind and with his tongue for Asuna to open her mouth. His grip in her hair tighten when she didn't respond and he was beginning to panic. What if this didn't mean anything to her?

Negi slowly opened his eyes. And the sight took what was left of his breath away.

He pulled back to see her entire face, breaking their sweet kiss to catch air. The girl had her eyes closed and a deep blush coated her cheeks. Her soft hair was ruffled by his hand. Her chest was heaving up and down while she panted to regain her breath. She looked like she was expecting more.

Then he watched her slowly opened her eyes. Hazy but twinkling green and blue stared up at him. "Negi. . ."

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles, never once taking his brown eyes away from hers. He felt unbelievably calm, even if he was blushing to the point of fainting.

"Don't stop." And it was Asuna would pulled him in, lips locking together. This time she was the one who asked to enter his mouth. His heart thumped wildly in his chest. She wanted him. She _wanted_ him! God, he wasn't going to let this chance slip. He opened his mouth to her and he lost himself.

Like hell he was going to let Fate take _his _Asuna away.

He surprised himself by growling into Asuna's throat and deepening their kiss.

* * *

**_END_**

thanks to all who have reviewed and such! makes me feel _special_. and a HUGE sorry that i haven't updated any stories. i wish i had a good excuse but i don't. i just got lazy! xD


	11. Ordinary Day

**note:** 07/19/2011 - made this a whiiiiillllleee back, finally approved of it. WARNING: Ako centric, not much Negi/Asuna. Song inspiration: Vanessa Carlton's _Ordinary Day_

* * *

_summary: Ako's an ordinary girl taking it one day at a time. What will it take for her day to become extraordinary?_

* * *

**Ordinary Day**

**Rated: K**

* * *

_Just a day,_  
_Just an ordinary day._  
_Just trying to get by._

The day had started out beautifully normal for Ako Izumi. She had taken a peaceful walk through town, admiring the lovely colors of spring and taking in the sweet scents of flowers in mid-bloom. She was swinging a straw basket as she skipped lightly to the songs of the cheerful birds when she suddenly spotted him gazing up at the clouds lazily floating across the sky.

He turned to look at the girl and smiled.

"What a beautiful morning, isn't it Ako-san?"

She lost her words as she gazed into his gentle brown eyes. _Her prince. . ._

"Come, Ako-san." Smiling brightly, he stretched out a hand to the girl. "How about we spend this amazing day together?"

"O- okay. . ." Ako took his hand. She followed his lead as they walked toward the park. Her eyes glanced at their holding hands and she blushed.

"I want to show you something, Ako-san. I found this place the other morning when I was wondering about." Her prince gently squeezed her hand

The park nearly glowed with the sun's rays. They passed children playing tag, mothers pushing strollers and couples walking with dogs at their feet. Ako watched the people as if in a mild, sleepy trance. The slow blur of it all made her body feel light, so light that she squeezed the boy's hand a little harder, afraid that if she let go, she would float away into the sky.

"What's wrong?" He looked at her with concern on his face. "Ako-san, what's wrong?"

"I- I- I just feel happy that's all." The girl's face was bright red as she smiled up at him. "Today was good but it just got better when I met you."

He chuckled softly. "Thank you. It makes me feel good when I am able to brighten up someone's day."

Ako lowered her gaze from his handsome face. _Is my luck finally turning around? _She hugged herself closer to him. _He's so kind and thoughtful towards me, maybe I'll finally get my chance at a happily-ever-after._

"Look, Ako-san."

The girl glanced up then her head swung wildly from side to side as she looked all around at the green and yellow clearing her prince had brought her to. "What is this!"

It was a meadow that sparkled with the light of the afternoon sun. It's lush grass was filled with small, yellow flowers which caught the rays of the sun, turning each yellow flower into gold. On every golden flowers was a pink butterfly. Every time Ako stepped in any direction, it sent a dozen butterflies scattering into the air.

"It's a dream spot. Wish for what you want and you may receive it."

The boy was standing a few feet away from Ako, watching the girl's reaction to his small paradise. He began to walk toward her and as he moved, no butterflies flew into the air.

"Whatever you wish, Ako-san, and you may receive it." Her prince repeated.

"Huh?"

She looked at him curiously as he lifted his cupped hands to her. He slowly opened his hands to reveal a glowing blue butterfly in his palm. Ako gazed in wonder at the butterfly when, suddenly, the insect was in the air flying in a dizzying upward spiral. As if on cue, the pink butterflies on the flowers sprang up along with the flowers' golden pedals, following the blue butterfly's spiral pattern and engulfing Ako in their flight.

Ako lifted her head so that her eyes saw the butterflies spinning above her. The movement of these creatures sent a delicious aroma of sweet spring flowers into the air, filling Ako's being with cozy contentment. The girl gazed dreamily at the spinning pinks and yellows all around her. Her pale green dress moved with the slight breeze, flapping hypnotizing in beat with the butterflies.

_Please come with me,_  
_See what I see._  
_Touch the stars for time will not flee._  
_Time will not flee._  
_Can you see?_

He smiled as he held out a hand for her to take. She slowly extended her hand and when she took it, the sky suddenly darkened. The morning had turned to night. Ako found herself in a silky white dress standing near a marble hand rail on a marble patio similar to a place in Mahora. She glanced around and saw a marble fountain spilling clear water into the pool underneath it.

And he was there as well.

_Her prince. . ._

Dressed in a sleek midnight-blue suit, he was watching her from near the fountain with the same heart-throbbing smile on his handsome face.

"Do you have faith, Ako-san?"

"F- faith? In what?" This time it was Ako who moved closer to him. She stopped next to him by the fountain.

"Faith in yourself."

Ako looked at his eyes which were drawn down to the small pool of water that surrounded the fountain. The starry sky was being reflected perfectly in the crystal-clear water. She looked up at the night sky to admire the glittering stars. She inhaled a deep breath of the cool, crisp air and smiled.

"What a beautiful night." _If only this could last forever. . ._

"Look, Ako-san." The girl glanced back down to the water, watching his reflection against a back drop of a dark, starry night. "Do you know you can touch the stars?"

"What? That's impossible!" Ako frowned at his handsome reflection. How can anyone say they can touch a star, any star? "It's physically impossible to touch a star! They are millions and millions of light years away. The closest one is-"

"Here." He placed his hand on hers and led it over the water. Her index finger gentle brushed the surface of the water where a reflection of a star was. Her touch sent a wave of small ripples across the smooth, mirror surface. "You see? You've touched a star."

"That's. . . so amazing." She smiled with childish delight. _I can touch the stars. . ._

"Have faith in yourself, Ako. You might realize something you haven't." With that, he smiled and placed her fingertips to his lips.

Suddenly, her vision began to blur. The sky started to mix with the ground, swirling together with the light and the dark.

Her prince was gone.

_Her prince_ is _gone_.

Her body felt heavy as if someone was draping bulky fabric on her while she had a high fever. She swayed on her feet for a moment and fell back. Ako tried to speak but she found that she couldn't move her mouth or even feel her body anymore. She shut her eyes to get away from this frightful experience.

Then she opened her eyes.

She was in her bed in her school's dorm rooms.

Ako sat up. _A dream? It was all a dream? _She slid her feet over the bed and slipped on her shoes. _It felt so real._ A hint of disappointment pinched her stomach. She had only been dreaming about him. _Was he even real?_

"Ako-san!"

A young voice called to her from outside. Then more voices joined it in a chorus.

She ran to her window and burst the shutters open, letting in the fresh air of morning along with the rays of the golden sun. Ako looked down and spotted several girls, her friends, from school including her teacher, Negi.

"Ako! Come on! We're having a morning picnic remember!" The girl standing next to Negi waved at her. "Some of the food is gonna get cold!"

"Ah, yes, Asuna-chan!" Ako returned the wave as she quickly grabbed her clothing, pulling on some shorts and a blue tee. _Dream or no dream, today will be wonderful._ The girl tugged on her shoes and ran outside to meet her friends.

Yes, today will be wonderful.

_Live while you can,_  
_Don't you see all your dreams lie right in the palm of your hand_

* * *

**END**

i thought of squeezing this one in here. i was 'awwing' when i re-read it. promise next one will be extra good and loong Negi/Asuna. _On a side note:_ if either Asuna or Negi were to die, which one could you see dying? i have a really sad plot so think over it well. :]**  
**


	12. Never

**note: **04/22/2012 - so this isn't the story i mention in the previous chapter. i got side tracked and end up finishing an old story. no song inspired this one, what did was Negi's parent's story. how sweet would it be to have Asuna be Negi's savior like Nagi had been to Negi's mom?

* * *

_summary: held in a prison for seven years, Negi had lost hope as he waited for help that never came. would no one come save him?  
_

* * *

**Never**

**Rated: K+**

* * *

_Seven years in this prison. _

_That's how long I've been here. _

_Seven long years alone and forgotten. _

_I don't even remember how any of my old friends look like anymore. Do they even remember me? Do they know that I am here? It's just been too long and I've lost hope. The thing is I don't know what I've lost hope for. My friends? Myself? The good, if any, of this world? _

_I wonder if these were the thoughts of my mother when she was in my same position. _

_But then, her savior came for her at the final moment and took her from her nightmare. _

_Will someone be coming for me? _

_Will it be my happy ending like my mother's? _

_I doubt it. _

_I hear they are finally going to execute me tomorrow. How sad, but at least I won't be forced to live anymore._

* * *

It's dark in his small cell. The only light that manages to seep through the cracks in the stone walls is dim and weak. He has forgotten the feeling of the warm rays of the sun and the cool air of the night against his skin. His ears had become unaccustomed to the normal sounds of everyday life. The only noise he would hear around his prison were the occasional footsteps of passerby guards and the clanking of his mid-day meal hitting the stone floor. Besides those quiet sounds, silence filled his days.

So when a far off noise not belonging to walking guards or his meal rang in the distance, he flinched slightly, yet kept his blank gaze on the stony floor. The noise came again, louder this time, loud enough to make Negi raise his head slowly toward his metal prison door.

It was unusual for it to be so noisy outside.

The noise grabbed his wary attention but not enough to make him care. He has lost so much of his humanity, things just don't seem to matter anymore, life doesn't seem to matter anymore. And pretty soon, everything would end for him.

The quiet noise transitioned into a series of shouts and clashes that sound to be coming nearer. His body tensed as if reacting to a familiar memory that had faded with time but had been burned into his muscle. Something about the clashing of that particular metal sounded familiar.

His ears managed to catch two far off voices yelling to each other.

"He's in this one!"

"You sure?"

"I'm positive! Now hurry!"

Something about the voices stirred an old, lost emotion in Negi. _Friends?_ No that can't be right. They had a specific request from himself to abandon him and they did so without looking back. His tired heart clenched painfully in his chest at the old memory of his friends leaving him behind. Even if he had asked for them to go, a part of him hadn't believed they would leave him so easily, a part of him had believed that they would have stayed and fought along side of him. That part had known his comrades would have stayed and that part had been broken when they abandoned him.

More explosive sounds and the clash of metal hitting metal almost hid the soft footsteps running down the pathway. Those same voices sounded closer.

"Which one, Chui-chan?"

"He's in the last one to the right."

"I see it."

The fast footsteps stopped in front of his door. His silent heart started to pump faster. Did they really come back for him? Or is this a dream? It had to be a dream because pulling a mission to help him escape _this_ prison is suicidal, an automatic death sentence.

"Somethings seems to be blocking any electronic signals, Asuna. You'll have to unlock it manually."

"What! You know how long that'll take? We don't have that time!"

"Well, what else are you going to do?"

After a second of silence, the door of his prison flew into the wall behind him, barely missing his head by a couple of inches. There, standing in the dust of his prison cell's collapsed wall, was his friend, the orange-haired princess that everyone had nearly killed themselves in saving. After seven years, the girl had become a woman, beautiful and proud.

"Hey, Negi. How've you been?" Asuna said with a sad smile as her eyes studied him. He hadn't seen his reflection in a mirror in years but from what Asuna's expression told him, it wasn't pretty. "Man, you look horrible."

"Asuna! Now's not the time to catch up! You two have to get out of there!" A digital mouse was floating next to the girl's ear. From that mouse was where the other voice, a female, drifted out from.

"A- Asuna-san?" Negi finally spoke, the dryness in his throat caused his voice to crack. "W- why are you here?"

"Hmm, not even a 'I'm so glad to see you'?" The girl walked to Negi and stood in front of him. "You actually believe we'd leave you? Did you forget what I swore?" Asuna smashed her foot into the stone floor. The surface cracked under her immense strength. "We'll drag you out of anywhere, even Hell!"

"Asuna-san."

He glanced up at her from his stony seat with a tiny smile. Pain flashed in Asuna's eyes before the girl took a step forward. "Well, no time for chatting, let's get outta here!"

She quickly pulled Negi out the door and down the hall. They ran into a large corridor where the half-demon Setsuna and the ninja Keade were fighting dozens of the prison's guards.

"We found him! Pull back when you have a chance!" Asuna's loud yelling caught the attention of the two warriors. The two warriors risked a glanced in their direction.

He recognized these women. They looked different from their time in middle school but something in himself knew them. "Setsuna-san? Keade-san?"

"Hello, Negi-sensei!" Setsuna shouted from across the room as twenty guards ganged up on the half-demon. His heart nearly stopped when she appeared to be dominated by the enemy, but it shuddered with relief when she blew them away with her glorious white wings. She spread her wings and bowed toward them. "It is a pleasure to see you once again!"

One of Keade's clones landed near them. "I agree, _de gozaru_. But first we must secure your escape. This way Asuna-dono and do not worry about us. This is no problem, _de gozaru_."

Asuna grinned at the fighting pair and pulled Negi. "Come on, Negi!"

They followed Keade's clone down large halls and stairways. Each one they passed looked worse than the previous; holes filled the walls, some of the stone was completely obliterated, the floor was littered with debris and black smoke sizzled all around them.

"Nh, we're coming up to the main battlefield. I will be dispelled now, so please, be safe, Asuna-dono, Negi-sensei." The Keade clone nodded with a sly smile and disappeared in a gray poof.

Negi felt Asuna tug his hand as she forced him to keep up with her ridiculous speed. They jumped over stone blocks and the occasional body of a guard, they dodged crumbling walls and burning tapestries, nothing could slow them down.

He felt Asuna's arm start to shake and when he glanced at her, a warm feeling crept into his chest. She was grinning that familiar grin from so many years ago. "I haven't had this much fun since Fate!"

The heartfelt laughter along with her wild, orange hair flowing behind her made Asuna look like a crazed warrior. Negi felt his heart melting as he ran by her side. The young woman looked so, so beautiful as she ran. She was doing this all for him. They were all doing this for him and he knew why.

She had not forgotten him. _His friends had not forgotten him._

No, it probably pained them that they couldn't help him until now. But now, now they were risking their lives to rescue him. Everyone had not forgotten him. They had waited and waited, just like him, for the opportune moment. He was so sure that Asuna herself had to be strapped down in order to not attempt a premature rescue mission.

His foot caught a stray rock and he would have fallen if Asuna hadn't been holding onto him.

He'd admit that the rescue plan was a bit rough, no sane person would launch a head on attack against _this_ prison. But it seemed to be well planned and that's all that mattered.

They ran through some thick gray smoke and when it finally cleared, it revealed a battleground involving all of Ala Alba and the some of the other girls of his old 3-A class.

"Aniki!"

"Negi-sensei!"

Negi glanced up to find the Great Paru-sama hovering above them, firing everything it had at the enemy fighters. He could barely make out his pet ermine, Chamo, standing on the railing of the ship along with Sayo, who was at the gun. "Chamo-kun! Sayo-san!"

He saw the little speck that was Chamo wave at him. "Aniki, it's nice to see you, but get the hell outta here!"

"Oi, Negi." He turned to the girl next to him. Asuna's hand disappeared behind her shoulder as she grabbed on to something that Negi hadn't notice she was carrying on her back.

It was his old staff.

There was an encouraging grin on her face as she held it out for Negi to take it. "Let's go."

He studied the staff for a moment before stretching out to grab it.

His hand grasped at empty air when Asuna suddenly pulled back to summon her artifact to her left hand and, while still carrying Negi's staff in her right, she slashed an on-coming magical blast. She grinned when she saw how it vanished harmlessly into the air.

"You've gotten a bit careless, Negi." She winked at him and he responded with an embarrassed blush. "Now hurry up and take it!" She shoved the staff into Negi's chest, causing him to lose his breath. "You sure got weaker with time, Neg. What happened to that demon we saw?"

He looked around at everyone fighting. He saw everyone who had formed a pactio with him fighting against the prison's defenses. Everyone risking there lives just for him. His stomach twisted into knots. They were truly his comrades. _Was this what Asuna felt when we were saving her?_ "Asuna-san. I- I want to thank you. You came to rescue me even when I told you not to."

She slapped his back. "Whatcha talking about? Of course we would." She raised a hand to mention at everyone fighting. "We all came to get you because you mean so much to us."

Negi felt his heart swell into his throat as he watched Asuna smiling. His next words came out before he could think about them. "Asuna-san, you also mean a lot to me."

"Huh?" The girl stared at Negi with a red blush on her face.

Negi quickly stammered out whatever his blank mind could bring up."I- I- I mean, all this that everyone's doing for me, it also means a lot to me!"

She grinned in reply and took his hand. "Come on, little kid. Let's get out so that we can all go home."

Negi nodded and followed her lead.

_He would finally go home._

* * *

**_END_**


	13. I Am Titanium

**note:** 08/02/2012 - so i was thinking about making this a multi-chap deal but who am i kidding? maybe if i get out of my laziness. born while i was listening to 'Titanium' by David Guetta feat Sia. to me, it feels like such a painful song

* * *

_summary: peace. war. is peace sustained through the suffering of one really different from war? slight AU  
_

* * *

**I Am Titanium**

**Rated: T**

* * *

"You can't do this!"

He struggled in the iron grasp of two men. There was no way that he would just silently witness the torture of this woman.

The screams filling the room burned his ears.

It wasn't right. No one should suffer like this, not even for their own country. He pulled away from the men and ran toward the edge of the incantation circle but was stopped by the arm of the high priest.

"You can't do this to her!"

The priest didn't look at him. "It is not wise of you to be present if you have such a weak heart, Negi Springfield." The older man's arm was firm. "Step on to that circle, she'll suck out all your magic and you'll be drained. We don't know if you'll live afterward."

"But-"

"The princess is doing this for the safety of her country. The girl knows the risks and the price of what must be done."

He watch helplessly as the orange haired girl in the middle of the circle screamed endlessly. Her long gown fluttered in the air with the force of the magical energy being released from her body. The light was blinding around the girl and if it weren't for her painful screams, it would seem as if she were singing.

His chest grew tight.

The girl broke her screams to cough out blood.

"You can't- It isn't right for her-"

"If it helps, Mr. Springfield, to not think of her as a human." He looked wide-eyed at the priest. "But as a weapon used for the defense of the millions under her rule."

"A weapon?" He was frozen with disbelief. He finally understood. "The people of this country had shown clear distaste for the princess. They had shown fear when I asked about her. Viewing her as a weapon means having both abilities of protection and destruction."

He paused and his heart hurt as the girl coughed out more blood to stain the pure whiteness of the marble floor. She had fallen to her knees and blood kept spilling from her gasping mouth. It didn't look as if she had the strength to scream anymore.

"The enemy is nearly cleared." The voice of another priest rang out.

His fists clenched. He had never felt so powerless to stop someone's suffering. The son of the great thousand master unable to save one girl. What a hero he was.

"The enemy is clear. Release the spell."

The light began to dim and the girl's body fell backwards.

"Asuna!" A single female voice screamed as two figures ran toward the limp heap.

He finally saw her face.

Expressionless, emotionless, blank eyes, the blood dripping out of her mouth, her face resembled that of the dead. Was she still alive?

Angry heat filled his soul and he lashed out at the older man still holding him back. "Look at your princess! _Look at her!_" He grabbed the man's robes and shook him. "Does thinking of this girl as a weapon, as a _thing_, keep your conscious clean? Does it make your people look the other way when their princess nearly kills herself to protect them?"

The priest shoved him so violently that he stumbled back a few steps. "Don't judge me, boy. We have been doing this for years. We are a _peaceful_ country. We have not participated in a war for the past hundred years. We have no army! How do you think a _army less_ country can survive this long? With out this girl, the country of Vespertatia would not exist as it does!" The priest regained his posture and released a breath before continuing on much calmer. "I know how it must seem to you, a traveling hero rescuing the souls in need, but our princess is not a victim. She does not need saving." They watched silently as the only two people who went to the fallen girl tended to her injuries. "The girl is strong. Something like this wouldn't break her body." The body on the floor finally moved and one of the figures hugged her. "The princess protects her country at whatever the cost and this way we are able to live in peace without the need of sending our men into battle to face death." The priest laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sad smile. "Do not bother yourself with her pain, Mr. Springfield, she always survives." The priest began walking to the three in the middle of the inactive circle and he could only watch as the man smiled at the princess.

He felt betrayed.

It was unbelievable. He had come here to learn from the only country to fully live in peace, to function without an army. He had come with the hopes of spreading this peace to other war-torn places but that hope was dead.

How could peace built on the torturing of a single being truly be considered peace? Was it right to sacrifice one person for thousands? Was it right for these people to live in ignorance of what was happening to their princess? Was the right choice to allow them to continue using her for the sake of peace or to save her and risk the safety of millions?

He watched the princess finally stand. The girl looked drained of life and there was a string of blood running down her chin. She supported herself on the bodies of the two who had first helped her. The priest spoke to her in a gentle manner but the girl didn't seem to listen.

Her blank stare was unnerving.

Something in him said that they may not have broken her body, but they had broken her spirit.

Her eyes focused on him for a split second and he felt he was being swallowed by the emptiness in her gaze before her eyes spaced out and the feeling was gone.

The priest was wrong.

She _was_ a victim. She _did_ need saving.

But,

_how could he save her?_


End file.
